Congress betrayed minorities after securing their votes, alleges BRS leader

BRS Minority Cell General Secretary Abdul Muqeet Chanda accused the Congress government of failing to fulfil promises made to minorities before the Assembly elections. He raised concerns over education schemes, loans, scholarships and recruitment while demanding a Rs 4,000-crore welfare budget.

HYDERABAD: BRS Minority Cell General Secretary Abdul Muqeet Chanda on Wednesday accused the Congress government of betraying minorities after securing their votes, saying it had no moral right to celebrate Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s birth anniversary or observe Minorities Welfare Day without implementing its promises to the community.

Launching a scathing attack on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Congress government, he alleged the party had gone back on several assurances made under its Minorities Declaration ahead of the Assembly elections.

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Abdul Muqeet Chanda pointed out that the government failed to implement the Abdul Kalam Taufa-e-Taleem Scheme, which promised financial assistance of Rs 10,000 after Class 10, Rs 15,000 after Intermediate, Rs 25,000 after graduation, Rs 1 lakh after post-graduation, and Rs 5 lakh for those pursuing M.Phil and PhD programmes.

He questioned the government’s failure to allocate Rs 1,000 crore annually for subsidised loans to unemployed minority youth and women to encourage self-employment and entrepreneurship. The promised special District Selection Committee (DSC) recruitment drive for Urdu-medium teachers had also remained unfulfilled, he said.

He further accused the government of neglecting minority students by allowing scholarship and fee reimbursement dues to remain pending, putting the education of economically weaker sections at risk.

Referring to minority residential schools, Abdul Muqeet Chanda said the previous BRS government had expanded the network to benefit more than 1.25 lakh students, while enrolment had reportedly declined to around 85,000 under the Congress regime.

He demanded that the government increase the minorities welfare budget to Rs 4,000 crore, introduce a dedicated Minority Sub-Plan, protect Waqf Board lands and properties and allot land for Muslim and Christian graveyards.