Things have started looking up for minorities in Telangana and welfare has taken a new meaning
Action speaks louder than words. The slew of measures taken by the government during the last three years have begun yielding results. However, the full impact of schemes like opening of residential schools, overseas scholarships and TS PRIME for minorities will be known only after some time. But the winds of change can’t be missed. Even the opposition parties reluctantly admit the positive impact the whole thing is having on the minorities.
Paradigm shift
What is significant is the paradigm shift brought about by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao in his policies towards minority welfare. The response to ground realities is robust and quick. While it has come as a morale-booster to the marginalised sections of society, it is also earning the government immense support and goodwill. The earmarking of a whopping Rs. 40,000 crore in the current year’s budget for welfare and development of weaker sections tells how serious this government is about giving the neglected communities their due. Perhaps for the first time in decades the 14.24 per cent Muslims in the State feel secure and protected. They know they can now stand up and be counted.
Welfare of minorities remains at the core of the TRS government’s development agenda and this is borne out by the schemes initiated in the last three years. Some of the measures include Shadi Mubarak scheme, raising of subsidy component for bankable schemes for minorities, introduction of honoraria for Imams and Muezzins, sanction of Rs. 10 crore for construction of Christian Bhavan in Hyderabad and construction of a facilitation centre-cum Rubaath at Dargah Hazrat Khaja Mohinuddin Chisti at Ajmer in Rajasthan at a cost of Rs. 5 crore.
Bold move
In the combined State, minorities constituted just 11 per cent of the population and government spent Rs. 509 crore on their welfare in 2013-14. After bifurcation, AP earmarked Rs. 371 crore, while Telangana allocated Rs 1,030 crore in its first budget for 2014-15. This was the highest-ever budget for the region. During 2015-16, the minorities welfare budget jumped further to Rs. 1,105 crore. The next budget of 2016-17 saw the figures going up to Rs. 1,204 crore. And this year the budget received a further hike to touch Rs. 1,249.66.
Passing of the legislation hiking the reservation quota for minorities to 12 per cent is by far a bold move. “No government has ever attempted to address the problems of minorities in such a comprehensive way within a short period of time,” says A.K. Khan, Advisor to Government on Minority Affairs.
Game-changer
The game-changer, however, remains the opening of residential schools for minority boys and girls. The Chief Minister has resolved to spend a whopping Rs. 8,000 crore on the schools, something unheard of in the annals of the State. Of the 200 residential schools proposed, half are meant for girls alone. The overwhelming response to the corporate-type schools are expected to change the face of the community in the coming years. Previous governments merely indulged in offering sops but for KCR it has to be a permanent and lasting solution. When 1.35 lakh students come out of these schools there is going to be qualitative change in the lives of the minorities.
If the hiked minority budget gets lapsed year after year and the Minority Welfare Department (MWD) has failed to live up to the expectations the reason is not far to seek. There is hardly any infrastructure or staff to implement the schemes. Statistics show that the Social Welfare Department has a cadre strength of 149 at the headquarters, Tribal Welfare 77 and BC Welfare 64. But the MWD has just 35 personnel, mostly on deputation. When this anomaly was brought to his notice, KCR immediately sanctioned an additional 80 posts. Officials say the department needs at least 250 personnel for effective functioning. The department needs to build a committed workforce which can own up the programmes and implement them with commitment.
CM determined
Think of MWD and what comes to mind is the beleaguered Wakf Board. Over the years it has become a byword for lethargy. The Augean stables have to be cleaned up and the department shaken out of its stupor. Hope with Khan, a retired cop, at the helm, things would straighten out fast.
In the final analysis, any government is as good as the commitment and dynamism of the person who steers it. In one of his addresses in the State Assembly, KCR had quoted a popular Urdu couplet to express his determination to deliver the promises. He said:
Main apne fun ki bulandi se kaam le loonga
Mujhe maqam na do, maqam le loonga
J.S.Ifthekhar,
Hyderabad based journalist.
Article published in Telangana Today
Dated June 19,2017
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