“Why is there no mention of Taufa-e-Taleem and other promised schemes in the budget speech?” he asked.
Hyderabad, July 25: BRS senior leader Shaik Abdullah Sohail has accused the Congress government of failing to deliver on its promise of a Rs 4,000 crore budget and a Minorities Sub-Plan for the state.
In response to the full budget presented by Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu on Thursday, Abdullah Sohail pointed out that only Rs 3,003 crores were allocated for minority welfare. He noted that in the Vote-on-Account budget presented on February 10, the amount was only Rs 2,262 crores. Following criticism from the BRS party, the Congress government increased the amount to Rs 3,003 crores. However, Abdullah Sohail argued that the Congress party had promised to increase the minority welfare budget to Rs 4,000 crores, along with a dedicated Minorities Sub-Plan. By not honoring this electoral promise, he claimed that the Congress government had cheated the state’s minorities.
Abdullah Sohail reminded that on November 10, 2023, the Congress party released the Minority Declaration, making specific promises to the minorities. Of the 12 major promises in the declaration, seven were directly related to budgetary allocations. These included increasing the minority welfare budget to Rs 4,000 crores, a dedicated Minorities Sub-Plan, and Rs 1,000 crores annually to provide subsidized loans for jobless minority youth and women. Other promises included the implementation of the Abdul Kalam Taufa-e-Taleem Scheme to provide financial assistance to Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and other minority youth completing M.Phil. and Ph.D. programs, with additional amounts for various educational levels.
“Why is there no mention of Taufa-e-Taleem and other promised schemes in the budget speech?” he asked.
Abdullah Sohail also highlighted that the Congress party had promised a monthly honorarium of Rs 10,000 – 12,000 for priests of all religions, including Imams, Muezzins, Khadims, Pastors, and Granthis. It also assured the provision of house sites and Rs 5 lakhs for constructing houses for all houseless minority families under the Indiramma Indlu Scheme. Newlywed couples from Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and other minority communities were also promised Rs 1,60,000. “Why were no allocations made to fulfill these promises?” he asked.
“Despite being in power for seven months, the Congress government has not honored a single promise made to the minorities. The Congress did not give representation to Muslims in the Telangana cabinet, and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who also oversees the minorities welfare portfolio, has not conducted a single review meeting to discuss budget provisions,” he said.
Abdullah Sohail claimed that the Congress government announced Rs 10,000 crores for Hyderabad’s development in the budget merely to create hype. He argued that if the Congress government were sincere, it should have announced the revitalization of SETWIN and skill development training and the transformation of the Quli Qutub Shah Urban Development Authority (QQSUDA) to develop infrastructure in the Old City, which was promised in the Minority Declaration.
“Revanth Reddy is still in a vindictive mode, taking revenge on minorities who voted for the BRS in previous Assembly elections. No importance is being given to any Muslim leader in the government or the Congress party,” he alleged, adding that nothing different could be expected from a Chief Minister with an RSS background.
Abdullah Sohail announced that the BRS party would soon launch a massive agitation to expose the Congress government’s anti-minority stance in Telangana and pressurize it to fulfill all electoral promises, including the Rs 4,000 crore budget and the Minorities Sub-Plan.
