Hyderabad, February 1: Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has strongly condemned the BJP Government for reducing the allocations for minority welfare in the Union Budget 2021-22.
In his reaction to the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament on Monday, Shabbir Ali said that the allocations for Minority Affairs have been reduced from Rs. 5,029 Crore in 2020-21 to Rs. 4,810.77 Crore in 2021-20. He also pointed out that the allocations for 2020-21 were revised to Rs. 4005 Crore.
Shabbir Ali said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ has been proved hollow as his government has completely ignored the minorities’ welfare in the union budget. He said a mere amount of Rs. 4,810.77 Crore were allocated from a budget of nearly Rs. 34 Lakh Crore for the welfare of minorities who constitute nearly 15% of total population of over 130 crore.
The Congress leader said that the BJP Government has been conspiring to deprive minorities of higher education which was clearly evident from the reduction in education-related schemes. He pointed out that allocation for post-Matric Scholarship for Minorities has been reduced from Rs. 535 Cr in 2020-21 to just Rs. 468 Cr in 2021-22. Similarly, funds for Merit-cum-Means Scholarship for professional and technical courses (undergraduate and post-graduate) have been reduced by Rs. 75 crore from Rs. 400 Crore in 2020-21 to Rs. 325 Cr in 2021-22. Allocation for Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students has been slashed from Rs. 175 Cr in 2020-21 to just Rs. 99 Cr in 2021-22. Likewise, allocation for Support for students clearing Prelims conducted by UPSC, SSC, State Public Service Commissions, etc., has been slashed from Rs. 10 Cr in 2020-21 to Rs. 8 Cr in 2021-22.
Overall, Shabbir Ali said that the allocations for education empowerment of minorities have been reduced from Rs. 2,530 Crore in 2020-21 to Rs. 2,381 Crore in 2021-22.
Funding for Skill Development and Livelihood too has been reduced from Rs. 602 Crore in 2020-21 to Rs. 573 Crore in 2021-22. He said allocation has been reduced for Nai Manzil scheme from Rs. 120 Cr in 2020-21 to just Rs. 87 Cr in 2021-22 and for USTTAD scheme from Rs. 60 Cr to Rs. 47 Cr. He said allocation for Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram has been reduced to Rs. 1,390 Cr compared to Rs. 1600 Cr last year. He said that the overall allocations for Central Sector Scheme/Projects have been slashed to Rs. 3,016 Crore in 2021-22 compared to Rs. 3,210 Cr in 2020-21.
Shabbir Ali also condemned the BJP Govt for neglecting Telangana in the Union Budget. He said not a single project of Telangana got a mention in the Union Budget speech. He said that the TRS Government and BJP MPs of Telangana have failed to pressurise the Centre to get due share for Telangana. He said that the Congress party would expose the injustices being done to Telangana by the Modi Govt. He said the KCR Govt has even failed to get projects which were approved by previous Congress-led UPA Govt under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.