Telangana govt spent Rs 6,644 cr for welfare of minorities in last 8 years

Hyderabad: Thanks to the series of development and welfare programmes implemented by the State government for the benefit of the minority community, Telangana is ranked top in the country in the educational development of minority girls. Striving for the development of all religions in Telangana, the State government has spent Rs 6,644 crore for the […]

Hyderabad: Thanks to the series of development and welfare programmes implemented by the State government for the benefit of the minority community, Telangana is ranked top in the country in the educational development of minority girls.

Striving for the development of all religions in Telangana, the State government has spent Rs 6,644 crore for the welfare of minorities in the last eight years. When Telangana was formed in 2014, the number of minority gurukuls in the State was only 12. But the State government has established 192 minority gurukuls in eight years to provide more educational opportunities to minorities, officials said.

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“Since it is the desire of the government that minority girls should be ahead in education, 50 per cent of the gurukuls were set up exclusively for minority girls and these institutions got an excellent response,” he said.

To date, the number of minority gurukuls in the State has increased to 204 and as many as 1.14 lakh students are studying in these institutions. The government is spending Rs 1.25 lakh on each student per year to provide quality education along with free accommodation and meals.

Keeping in view the situation of minority girls dropping out after Class X, the government has upgraded 121 minority residential schools to residential junior colleges. The enrollment of minority girls has increased from 18 per cent earlier to 42 per cent today.

“This growth has brought satisfaction and happiness among the minority community,” officials said. The construction of new buildings with all amenities and facilities is underway for 54 residential minority gurukuls in the State. After many consultations, the Waqf Board agreed to give land for the construction of 29 college buildings in Hyderabad.

An orphanage — Anees-ul-Gurba was reconstructed in Nampally and the building is ready for inauguration. Officials said the government was providing an honorarium of Rs 5,000 per month to Rs 10,000 to imams and mouzams who conduct prayers in the mosques. Major festivals of minorities like Christmas and Ramzan were celebrated as government festivals. New clothes are given as a gift on this occasion. Special funds were raised for prayer halls, they added.

Officials said the State government was giving utmost priority to the welfare of minorities and working for their development in all fields. This resulted in getting the first rank for Telangana in the educational development of minority girls, they added.