After rising against UCC, KCR rolls out economic sops to minorities before polls

The scheme was originally launched on June 7 for BCs, proposing to provide a one-time financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh to one member of the beneficiary family. A Government Order (GO) issued Sunday extends the scheme to both Muslim and Christian communities.

Ahead of the state Assembly elections, which are due in December this year, the BRS is focusing on consolidating its support bases among BCs as well as minorities. Of nearly 4 crore population of Telangana, the population of Muslims and Christians is about 50 lakhs and 4 lakhs, respectively.

The GO, issued by Minorities Welfare Department secretary Syed Omar Jaleel extends the”Economic Support Scheme with 100 per cent subsidy for the minority beneficiaries up to Rs 1 lakh” to be executed through the Telangana State Minorities Finance Corporation and Telangana State Christian Minorities Finance Corporation.

The GO states that the Telangana government is committed to the welfare and upliftment of minorities and that it has formulated several “novel schemes aimed at social, economic, educational and institutional development among minorities”. It says the Telangana State Minorities Finance Corporation has requested the government to extend the financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh to Christians, which has been accepted.

The GO also says that Christians should apply for the scheme to the Telangana State Christian Minorities Finance Corporation. The individual age limit fixed for applicants is 21-55 years as on June 2, 2023. The annual income of an applicant shall not exceed Rs 1.50 lakhs in rural areas and Rs 2 lakhs in urban areas. The selection process will be completed by the district level monitoring committee/screening cum selection committee headed by the collector, who will take the approval of the district in-charge Minister.

Harish Rao said the government has received thousands of applications from BC applicants after the scheme was rolled out.

A BRS statement said, “According to the decision of CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, the state government has issued an order to provide financial assistance of one lakh rupees to the religious minorities with full subsidy in the same manner as it is being provided to BCs in the state. Thus the state government has unveiled another historic milestone for the country towards economic self-reliance of the minorities.”

KCR said the state government has been working with the “vision of eradicating poverty regardless of caste and religion”. He said efforts were being made to eliminate poverty and backwardness of minorities by implementing many schemes in various fields including education and employment. The CM also said the process of protecting “Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb” (syncretic culture) will continue in the state by equally supporting different cultures and religious traditions.

KCR recently announced his strong opposition to the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) proposal, charging that the UCC’s “imposition” is a “malicious attempt” by the BJP-led central government. The BJP government, he alleged, has ignored development since 2014 and has “plotted to instigate people by promoting divisive politics by raking up clashes between the communities to derive political benefits through the UCC”.

To “safeguard” India’s diversity, KCR said, the BRS “vehemently rejects” the UCC, vowing to fiercely oppose it in Parliament also by uniting with all like-minded parties.

Recently, the KCR government decided to extend the Hyderabad Metro Rail to the Old City in a move which was also seen as an outreach to the minority community. The Opposition Congress however called it an “election gimmick” aimed at “placating” the BRS’s ally AIMIM.