Hyderabad: The Telangana government has proposed to allocate Rs 2200 crore in the financial year 2023-2024 for the welfare of minority communities. In the previous financial year an amount of Rs 1,728.71 crore was allocated to the Minority Welfare Department as against Rs 1,602 crore allocations during the year 2021-22, said state finance minister T Harish Rao.
Addressing the ongoing Assembly session, Harish Rao said that the Telangana government treats all religions equally. “Without discrimination to any section of the society, the benefits of government programmes are made available to all. Before the formation of Telangana, the previous governments were not even spending Rs 300 crore per annum for the welfare of Minorities,” he added.
The Telangana finance minister further explained that since the state’s formation in June 2014, an amount of Rs 8581 crore has been spent by the government for the welfare of minorities till January 2023. “The fact that an amount of Rs 1,286 crore was spent in 2021-22 for the welfare of minorities is strong proof of the commitment of the Telangana government,” he stated.
Harish Rao said the government has been implementing the Shaadi Mubarak Scheme for Muslim girls since 2014. In the last eight and a half years, for the marriage of 2.32 lakh girls, an amount of Rs 1,903 crore was spent. Due to the increased demand from the poor beneficiaries, Rs 450 crore has been proposed for the same, including an additional amount of Rs.150 crore for it.
For the disbursement of loans by the Telangana State Minorities Welfare Corporation in the current and the ensuing financial year, an amount of Rs 270 crore is proposed to be spent. This is an increase of Rs 239 crore from the previous year’s budget of just Rs 31 crore.
The Telangana government has taken a decision to distribute 20,000 sewing machines to poor Muslim women through the Minorities Welfare Corporation, added Harish Rao. The number of minority residential educational institutions in the State is much higher than in other states. Initially, the government established 203 Minority Residential Schools and later upgraded them into junior colleges, the Finance Minister stated.
For the higher education of students belonging to Minority communities in other countries, each student is made available a scholarship of Rs 20 lakh.
Harish Rao elaborated that on the occasion of the celebration of festivals of all religions, gifts are given to the poor. “New clothes are being distributed to 4.50 lakh Muslims during Ramzan and the number of Christians receiving new clothes is 3 lakh as special gifts. On the occasion of the Bathukamma festival, which is being celebrated on a grand scale in Telangana, the government is distributing new sarees to women,” he added.
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