Hyderabad: Fortune smiles on 16 Huzurabad Imams while salary eludes 6,884
Hyderabad: Imams and muezzins across the State who have been waiting for honorarium for the past three years, wish they could have received the two-month allowance had they belonged to Huzurabad constituency, as the Telangana State Wakf Board recently distributed the amounts to 16 Imams and Muezzins of the constituency.
In the wake of the upcoming by-poll Finance Minister T Harish Rao himself distributed the amounts along with the Wakf Board chairman
About 7,000 members serving in masjids had applied for the allowance and their pleas are pending even after repeated representations to ministers Koppula Eswar, Mahmood Ali and KTR.
The Wakf Board is waiting for approval from the State Minority Welfare minister to okay the honorarium, but the issue is allegedly pending since 2018 with Eshwar.
After Telangana was formed, the government announced a Rs 5,000 honorarium to 10,000 Imams and Muezzins and asked all of them to apply. The responsibility of distribution was given to the Wakf Board. It had received applications and immediately distributed the amounts. The scheme was appreciated by the Muslim community. It extended support to the TRS.
An organisation working for the welfare of imams and muezzins, All India Sufi Ulema Council, has objected to the government decision. It demanded distribution of the allowance equally to all applicants, describing the step 'irregular'. The council questioned the Wakf Board about the distribution through RTI.
Speaking to The Hans India, president of the council Maulana Khairuddin Sufi alleged that many irregularities are being detected in the Wakf Board. The chairman doesn't follow the instructions given by the ministers. He claimed that the board is getting allowance amounts for 10,000 applicants, but only 9,300 are getting the amounts once in three or six months. No details of the balance of the remaining 700 applicants are available.
He charged the government with playing the poll card for the promised honorarium and distributing amounts in the constituency. The council demanded the government to clear all long pending applications.