State Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka presented a budget of Rs 2.91 lakh crore for the fiscal year 2024-25 in the Assembly. The Telangana Government budget has undergone several key changes. The budget for the Minority Welfare Department has been increased while funding for the SC-ST departments has been reduced.
The Government has allocated Rs 3,003 crore to the Minority Welfare Department, up from Rs 2,200 crore allocated last year by the BRS Government.
While the Congress Government has increased the budget for minority welfare, it has significantly reduced funding for SC and ST welfare, slashing it from Rs 21,072 crore to Rs 7,638 crore. Additionally, the budget for the Tribal Welfare Department has been cut from Rs 4,365 crore to Rs 3,969 crore.
Crores allocated for Tablighi Jamaat, Ramadan celebrations
The Finance Minister also announced that the government has allocated Rs 33 crore this year for Ramzan celebrations and Rs 50 lakh for the repair and maintenance of Ashoor Khanas. Additionally, Rs 2.4 crore has been released for the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in January 2024, and Rs 4.43 crore has been set aside for Haj pilgrims. Interestingly, the minority population in Telangana is approximately 14 per cent or about 50 lakh people.
Shifting Priorities: Focus on Strengthening the Muslim Vote Bank
The Congress Government has reversed its commitment by cutting the SC-ST welfare budget. Despite its consistent claims of focusing on the welfare of Dalits and tribals and receiving substantial support from these communities, the party has reduced funding for these groups. This shift in budget priorities suggests that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy aims to strengthen the Muslim vote bank for the party.
BJP Criticises Minority Welfare Fund Allocation
The opposition BJP has sharply criticised the Government’s record fund allocation for minority welfare, labelling it as minority appeasement.
Telangana BJP spokesperson K Krishna Sagar Rao condemned the state for focusing on minority appeasement amid financial difficulties.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar also criticised the decision to allocate Rs 33 crore for Ramadan celebrations, arguing that the Government has approved funds for Ramadan but provided no new support for Hindu festivals.
“It is outrageous that more than Rs 2.45 crore have been sanctioned for the arrangements of the meeting organised by the Tablighi Jamaat organisation in the name of Islamic society in January in Parigi mandal of Vikarabad district,” he said.
“Does the newly elected Government of Revanth Reddy know this? What are intelligence agencies doing? What do you want to do to Telangana with the Tukde Tukde gang? Congress Government claims that the state is bankrupt, but is funding a program organised by Tablighi Jamaat, which promotes terrorism and the spread of Islam,” Bandi Sanjay Kumar alleged.
Blaming the organisation as the main reason for the spread of coronavirus in the country in 2020, Kumar added, “this organisation’s entry into Telangana in the name of gatherings and meetings is leading to many suspicions, that too at a time when the coronavirus is spreading in India again.”
“Who is the mastermind behind the Government’s grant of funds to an organisation involved in spreading extremist ideologies and forced religious conversions?” he asked.
