Telangana scheme for minority youths: BJP, Cong ask BRS govt to not do lip service, put money where mouth is

Telangana BJP leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy has also separately asked what had happened to the “over 2.5 lakh applications” that the TSMFC had received since 2015. “The dates for processing of fresh applications and of disbursal are not mentioned (in the proforma). There is no transparency on its implementation. This track record further confirms a lack of commitment towards minority welfare of this government. What is the track record of the BRS government? Has it done anything beyond spending money on Ramzan gifts and food, which itself have gone unaudited?” Reddy asked.

Responding to the allegations, Finance Minister T Harish Rao said fresh applications were invited in 2023 from those who had applied earlier.

Senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir, who is also the convener of the TPCC Political Affairs Committee (PAC), said the BRS government’s proposed Minorities Bandhu Scheme is a “farce” and an attempt to deceive the poor, jobless youth belonging to the minority community. “Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has done nothing for the jobless youth of the minority communities,” he said, citing the unprocessed applications.

Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikaramarka has called the scheme being revived a pre-poll gimmick to influence voters. “The BRS has never been serious about implementing such schemes,” he said.

Shabbir said the BRS government was using delaying tactics to deceive the minorities. First, a meagre amount of Rs 50 crore was allocated to the TSMFC. When the Congress protested, another Rs 70 crore was added, he said. “Even this amount is not enough to benefit all the jobless youths who have applied for loans. To cover up this failure, CM KCR came up with the idea of launching a Minority Bandhu Scheme to provide Rs 1 Lakh financial assistance to minorities with a 100% subsidy,” he said.

Shabbir also pointed out that the announcement was made with no clarity on the total amount to be disbursed, or the deadline to complete the process. He said KCR was an expert in such delaying tactics, and that there is a strong possibility that the process of approval would be dragged on till the elections are notified, when the poor minorities would be again denied loans on the pretext of the Model Code of Conduct. They will be asked to vote in favour of the BRS and the AIMIM if they want their applications to be approved, he added.

The Congress leader added that spending on welfare is not calculated based on figures alone, but also on the percentage of the total budget allocated to it, and the year-on-year budgetary increase in the allocation.

“From 2004 to 2014, under a Congress government, there was an impressive growth in the allocation for minority welfare. While the state’s total budget grew from Rs 51,142 crore in 2004-05 to Rs. 1,61,348 crore in 2013-14, the allocation for minorities’ welfare saw an even more impressive surge, increasing by 26.33 times, from Rs 39.03 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 1,027 crore in 2013-14,” the former minister said. “It is a different story under the BRS government, from 2014-15 to 2023-24. The total budget increased approximately 2.89 times during this period, from Rs 1,00,637 crore to Rs 2,90,396 crore. But, the growth in the allocation for minority welfare was significantly lower than during the Congress era. The budget for minorities’ welfare increased by approximately 2.14 times, from Rs 1,030 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2,200 crore in 2023-24,” he said.