TRS-BJP hand-in-glove to slash spending on minorities' welfare: Congress

Hyderabad: Hyderabad City Congress Committee (HCCC) Minorities Department Chairman Waliullah Sameer has accused the TRS Government of diverting funds meant for the welfare of minorities.

Waliullah Sameer, in a media statement on Monday, said that the TRS Government has reportedly diverted huge funds meant for the minorities' welfare. "Not even 50% of Rs. 1,973 crore allocated for the minorities' welfare in the budget 2018-19 has been spent so far. With just two months left for the end of financial year, the State Government has freezed the release of funds and diverted the sanctioned amount for other purposes," he alleged.

Quoting the Annual Report of 2017-18 of Ministry of Minority Affairs, Sameer said that the Telangana Government also diverted funds meant for "Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) for Minority Concentration Blocks(MCBs), Minority Concentration Towns(MCTS) and Clusters of Villages" under 12th Five Year Plan. While the BJP Government at the Centre did injustice by releasing just Rs. 58.87 crore out of Rs. 117.91 crore project approved, the TRS Government had utilised only Rs. 7.41 crore which is not even 20%. Remaining funds have either been diverted or allowed to lapse, he alleged.

He said an amount of Rs. 29.75 crore was allocated in 2017-18 towards MsDP in Telangana. While this amount was not fully utilised, the allocation of Rs. 90 crore in 2018-19 only remained on paper due to zero utilisation.

Sameer also slammed the TRS Government for remaining a mute spectator to the reduction in funds for minorities' welfare by the Centre. In the interim budget presented in the Lok Sabha by Minister of Finance Piyush Goyal the budgetary allocation of Minority Affairs Ministry has been reduced. "The allocation for the minorities' welfare has been reduced by Rs. 60.01 crore in interim budget. While it was Rs 4,700 crore in 2018-19, it came down to 4639.99 crore for 2019-20. It is shocking that the TRS Government did not register its protest against this injustice to minorities, he said. 

The Congress leader said that the BJP Government at the Centre deliberately reduced funds for various schemes. He pointed out that the previous Congress-led UPA regime had increased the budget for Minorities' Welfare by 23 times during the seven year period from 2006-07 to 2013-14. Starting with Rs. 144 crore in 2006-07, the budget for Minority Affairs was increased to Rs. 3,531 crore in 2013-14. Similarly, the Plan allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs was increased from Rs.7,000 crore during 11th FYP to Rs.17,323 crore during the 12th FYP. 

Sameer said both TRS and BJP Governments have neglected the minorities by not releasing funds for the welfare. He said while BJP has displayed open discrimination by cutting down funds, TRS has openly cheated by announcing big amounts but not spending them.