Congress plans Rs 5,000 crore welfare budget, sub-plan for minorities

Hyderabad: Speaking about Congres' plan to empower minorities in Telangana State, Congress senior leader and TPCC Minorities Declaration Draft Committee chairman Mohammed Ali Shabbir announced the party’s plans to implement Rs 5,000 crores of welfare allocation and a minorities' sub-plan.

Ali Shabbir said that the Minorities’ Declaration of Congress party will be built from more than 150 suggestions and more received through online and offline modes from 15 prominent Muslim organisations.

“Some of the important suggestions received by the committee include an increase in the minorities welfare budget to Rs 5,000 crore, a Minorities Sub-Plan on the lines of SC, ST Sub-Plans, a hike in the budget for marriage scheme and a law to stop discrimination on religious grounds,” Shabbir Ali said.

He was addressing a press conference after the committee held its last open session at a private hotel in Hyderabad on Thursday. He said that representatives of several prominent Muslims, Christians, Jains, Dalit Muslims and others participated in the open session.

Shabbir Ali said that the suggestions received so far would be filtered and compressed into a concise document and will be handed over to TPCC president A Revanth Reddy. He said that AICC leader Rahul Gandhi might release the Minorities Declaration in the next few days.

‘BRS repealed Congress initiatives for development’

Shabbir Ali said that the previous Congress government implemented a four per cent Muslim reservation which changed the lives of lakhs of poor Muslim families in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in the last 17-18 years.

“Several other initiatives taken by the previous Congress government for the welfare of minorities have been discontinued by the present BRS government,” he said. “As many as 56 minority engineering and professional colleges were sanctioned by the previous Congress regime and the BRS government shutdown 50 colleges,” he added.

He also accused the BRS government of attempting to reduce the existing four per cent Muslim reservation to three per cent.

He said that the Congress would consider suggestions like granting permission to new medical, engineering and other professional colleges. Similarly, the suggestion for setting up a private minority university may also be included in the declaration.

While speaking at the sixth meeting of the committee, TPCC senior vice president and committee’s convener Zafar Javeed said that leaders of all leading prominent organisations such as Jamat-e-Islami, Jamiat-ul-Ulema, Tameer-e-Millat, Tahreek Muslim Shabban, and others were consulted.

While assuring that all suggestions would be incorporated in the Minorities Declaration, he said, “For the first time we are not saying what we want to give if we come to power. Instead, we are asking the people themselves what they want the next government to do for them,” he said.

Zafar Javeed said that the Congress party got a quality response to its request for ideas and suggestions for the Minorities Declaration.

AICC secretary Mansoor Ali Khan said that the Congress party was all set to return to power and minorities would support the Congress party in the coming Assembly elections. Justice Ibrahim Siddiqui representing the Ahle Hadees sect announced support for the Congress party in the coming Assembly elections.

Sabir Peer of Jamiat-ul-Ulema E Hind TS, Ghouse Mohiuddin of Pvt Minority Institutions Association, Brother Varghese, Mohammed Saleem of JAC, social activist Sara Mathews, Osman Al Hajri, Shia leader Shaher Yaar Ali Khan and representatives of other prominent organisation participated in the open session.

The meeting also witnessed the presence of Shaik Abdullah Sohail, B Ezekiel, Uzma Shakir, Rahed Khan, Faheem Qureshi, Md Azmatullah and other senior leaders.