Hyderabad: The state government has provided Rs 1,602 crore (Rs 1,513 crore in 2020-21) for minorities in the Budget of which two-thirds has been marked for education and academics. No new schemes were introduced for the minorities on Thursday.
Finance minister T. Harish Rao proposed an allocation of Rs 561 crore for the Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society which has 1 lakh students. He said the government had allotted 10 acres for the Islamic Cultural Convention Centre at Kokapet and works would commence very shortly, but it was not allocated any funds,
The budget provided Rs 206.9 crore for reimbursement of tuition fee, Rs 74.81 crore for scholarships and stipends, Rs 5.51 crore for training and employment and Rs 2.46 crore for scholarships for non-professional courses and Rs 72.54 crore for overseas scholarships.
The government has enhanced the budgetary allocation for the remuneration of imams and muezzins from Rs 55.1 crore to Rs 66 crore, while it has remained static at Rs 300 crore for Shadi Mubarak. The Dawat-e-Iftar and Christmas Feast have been allocated Rs 66 crore and Rs 2.5 crore respectively.
The Bank-Linked Income Generation Scheme was given Rs 28.31 crore and the Christian Minorities Finance Corporation Rs 2.5 crore. The Urdu Academy will get cumulatively Rs 12.5 crore, and the Haj Committee and Dairatil Maarif Rs 1.5 crore each. The state government has allocated Rs 42 crore for the Multi-Sectoral Development Programme for Minorities. For maintenance and repairs of Macca Masjid and Shahi Masjid, Rs 2.5 crore were allocated.
