Minorities Welfare Day celebrated on Maulana Azad’s 125th birth anniversary. Sops galore.

Andhra Pradesh, November 12, 2012: Andhra Pradesh Congress Government celebrated Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s birth anniversary as Minorities Welfare Day. A conference was held at Ravindra Bharati auditorium which was attended by chief minster N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and senior congress leaders. Interestingly Minority Affairs Minister Mohammed Ahmedullah was absent from the ceremony, but it didn’t come as a surprise, because news of growing rifts between him and the CM was known to everyone.

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, at the function to celebrate Minorities Welfare Day

Police were deployed in large numbers at the venue due because of the communal ruckus going on in the old city due to the illegal expansion of Bhagya Lakshmi temple at Charminar. Even MIM MLA Virasat Rasool Khan tried to barge into the venue to protest the arrest of his colleagues but was stopped and detained immediately. The programme was attended by many students from different minority colleges of Hyderabad. Former Electricity minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir gave the presidential address in the absence of minority affairs minister.
In the presidential address Shabbir describe the immense contributions of Mualana Azad to the independence movement as he spent 1/3rd of his life in prison for the cause. Shabbir asked minority communities to learn from the life of Maulana Azad. Many other Muslim Congress leaders, including former minority affairs minister Fareeduddin also spoke on the occasion.

But it was Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy who stole the show by showering sops on the minority community and by his little flinty Hyderabadi Urdu speech. In his speech Reddy showed the audience the importance of Maulana Azad’s vision in the freedom struggle and the subsequent independent India. He also spoke on the importance of education, which Maulana has also propagated. Then he listed out the welfare schemes which his government has been implementing for the minorities and some new ones which were going to be implemented.

The Chief Minister in his speech stated that budget for minorities in the state was Rs 30 crores during 2004-05 which has been enhanced to Rs 489 crores. He said while 17,000 students were being given scholarships during 2004-05 amounting to Rs 2 crores, now it has been enhanced to Rs 230 crores for 1.5 lakh students during 2011-12. The CM said due to his government’s introduction of 4% reservation for minorities about 30,239 engineers, more than one thousand doctors and other professional students got the benefit and these reservations have now been extended for another ten years.

He also added that during the recent police recruitment, 60 Muslim youths got selected as sub-inspectors. Reddy added that Rs. 4.5 crores have been sanctioned for the upgradation of Charminar Unani Tibbi Hospital. National Academy of Construction training center in the old city has been opened to train the unemployed youth under ‘Rajiv YuvaKiranalu,’ three new degree college buildings were sanctioned for Old City and Rs 15 crores were released to Quli Qutub Shah Urban Development Authority.

The Chief Minister said that 2000 Vidya volunteers were appointed in Madarsas through Rajiv Vidya Mission. In Hyderabad’s Old City, one volunteer was appointed for every 100 households to monitor children and this facility would be extended all over the state soon. He also mentioned that mess charges to minority students had been enhanced on par with SC / ST students.

CM Reddy announced that in addition to the exciting four competitive exams coaching centers for minority students three more centers would be opened at Nizamabad, Cuddapah and Chittoor, soon. The Chief Minister also sanctioned Rs 15 crores for the repairs of Mosques and Churches in the State. The Chief Minister in the end offered cash prizes to meritorious minority students.

– tcn