Telangana Polls: Congress woos Muslims with no new promises

Congress has come out with a “Minority Declaration” which is incorporated in its voluminous ‘Abhaya Hastham’ Manifesto

Even as campaigning for the November 30 Assembly polls reaches a crescendo, the Congress is wooing the minorities and enthusiastically claiming that Muslims will vote for the party in large numbers this time. It has come out with a “Minority Declaration” which is incorporated in its voluminous ‘Abhaya Hastham’ Manifesto. However, a closer look reveals that the high-sounding Minority Declaration is just a piece of paper which offers nothing new to the minorities apart from what they are already getting in the State under the BRS government over the last 10 years.

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For clarity, the manifesto highlights its promises for minorities welfare which include a minority sub-plan with provision of adequate funds, a minority welfare board with adequate funds, honorary remuneration for Gurudwara Granthis and special efforts for welfare of Dalit Christians. Don’t we have Minorities Welfare Department at the Secretariat level and Minorities Welfare Commissionerate at the directorate level for almost three decades now? What would a minority welfare board do now?

Opening of residential schools for minority girls and boys across the State, promotion and recognition of Urdu language in government departments and enhancement of honorary remuneration for Imams and Pastors are the redundant assurances outlined in the manifesto. The party promises to implement the Sachar Committee recommendations, little realizing that it did nothing to do the same when it was in power for 10 years till 2014.

The Declaration, on the other hand, speaks about conduct of a Caste Census within six months, enhancing the minorities welfare budget to Rs.4,000 crore, provision of Rs.1,000 crore annually for subsidised loans to minority youth and women, establishment of Telangana Sikh Minority Finance Corporation, a special DSC for recruitment of Urdu medium teachers etc.

Another promise is the introduction of “Abdul Kalam Taufa-e-Taleem” scheme to provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to minority youth for completing M.Phil & Ph.D, Rs.1 lakh for post-graduation, Rs.25,000 for graduation, Rs.15,000 for Intermediate and Rs.10,000 for passing the 10th Grade (SSC). By the way, who is this “Abdul Kalam”? Is it India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, or India’s missile man and former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam?

The Declaration sows confusion about many things. Already, there are two finance corporations, namely Telangana State Christian (Minority) Finance Corporation for Christians and Telangana State Minorities Finance Corporation for the other minorities—Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis—and where is the need for Sikh Minority Finance Corporation now? Telangana State Minorities Commission is a statutory body and why does the TS Minorities Commission Act need an amendment “to make it a permanent body”?

There were not even a dozen minority residential schools in Telangana before formation of the State. Telangana government revamped the scheme and raised the number to 205 minority residential schools in the last 10 years and these schools are being upgraded into junior colleges. About 1.4 lakh minority boys and girls are studying in these schools and 7,570 teaching and non-teaching staff are working in these institutions.

Telangana has been the pioneer in the country in introducing the Chief Minister’s Overseas Scholarship Scheme for Minorities in 2015. An assistance of Rs.20 lakh each is provided to the beneficiaries in two instalments and they also get Rs.60,000 each towards one-way airfare. The minority students are also provided pre-matric and post-matric scholarships (MTF) and Fees Reimbursement (RTF) on par with SC, ST, BC and EBC students in the State.

Kalyana Mastu scheme was launched in erstwhile united AP for conduct of mass marriages with assistance of Rs.25,000 per couple. After formation of Telangana State, the government introduced Shadi Mubarak scheme for minorities and Kalyana Lakshmi for other communities and raised the financial assistance to Rs.51,000 initially to Rs.1,00,116. The Congress promises to raise it to Rs.1.6 lakh.

The Telangana government launched Rs one lakh subsidy scheme for the minorities on July 23 this year and earmarked Rs 270 crore for the scheme. In 2015, the Telangana government had introduced the scheme for provision of monthly honorarium to Imams and Muezzins. The allowance is raised to Rs.5,000 per month, benefiting as many as 17,000 Imams and Muezzins of mosques all across the State.

Digitisation and geo-tagging of notified wakf properties in the State has been taken up under a central government scheme and work has been completed on the digitization of wakf properties listed out in the first Wakf Survey. Since 2014, the Telangana government has allotted 380 acres of lands in the districts for Muslim graveyards and Christian cemeteries. This includes 50 acres of land adjacent to Dargah Fakeer Mulla at Balapur in 2018 and 125 acres at various locations in Rangareddy and Medchal districts on the city outskirts in August this year.

Under the 2-BHK scheme, minority beneficiaries are also covered in a big way. Out of the two lakh 2-BHK housing units constructed in Hyderabad and other towns across the State, about 15 percent beneficiaries are to be selected from minority communities. Under GO 58, free land pattas upto 125 square yards are allotted to the poor minority families. Under Gruha Lakshmi scheme launched in September this year, assistance of Rs.3 lakh is provided to economically weaker sections, including minorities, to build their houses if they have their own plots.

So, what does the Congress offer to the minorities other than a rehash of schemes already being implemented under BRS rule? It is said, ‘nakhal ku bhi akhal chahiye.’ (You need to be wise even to copy.)