The Chief Minister’s Christmas celebrations would likely be held between December 19 and 21 at the LB Stadium: Government adviser Shabbir Ali
HYDERABAD: Government adviser Shabbir Ali said that the Chief Minister’s Christmas celebrations would likely be held between December 19 and 21 at the LB Stadium. He said the state government would provide financial assistance for church repairs.
He was speaking after cutting the cake at the Indian Christian Journalists Collective’s Pre-Christmas celebrations here on Saturday.
Ali said he had recommended that priority be given to independent churches in rural areas that lacked basic facilities. He noted that the government, as promised in its manifesto, was providing ₹2,000 financial assistance each to some 7,000 pastors. There were nearly 20,000 pastors in the state, and registration issues were causing delays in extending the support to the rest of them.
Senior journalists were felicitated at the event. Christian Minority Corporation chairman Deepak John said that the Revanth Reddy government had spent approximately ₹130 crore in the past year on church construction and cemetery repairs. Expressing concern over increasing attacks on minorities and violations of constitutional rights across the country, he called upon Christian journalists to focus on these issues and bring them to public attention.
Pastors Purushotham, Pastor G.D Anil Kumar and Sushil Victor delivered the Christmas message. The event was attended by Telangana Minority Commission vice-chairman Shankar Luke, former chief secretary Minnie Mathew, and former DGPs Swaranjit Sen and Dr K. Babu Rao.
