Telangana government's financial assistance scheme excludes Muslims: Report
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Hyderabad: Telangana government faces mounting criticism as concerns arise over an alleged organized conspiracy to deprive Muslims of government schemes, leading to questions about the government's commitment to social inclusion.
According to a report published in The Siasat Daily, the controversy surrounds the recent announcement of a financial assistance scheme exclusively for backward classes (BC), which fails to include the BC(E) community, impacting Muslim representation within the initiative.
During a cabinet meeting held on May 27, the government's cabinet sub-committee decided to provide Rs 1 lakh assistance to professionals and artisans belonging to the BC category to enhance their businesses.
However, despite the lack of clarity in the government orders, the BC(E) community, which predominantly consists of Muslim communities, has been excluded from this significant government initiative. While the government claims that all BC category members can benefit from the scheme, applications are being accepted only from BC-A, BC-B, and BC-D categories on the official website.
This exclusionary approach has raised concerns that the government may be intentionally hindering the development opportunities for Muslims. Previously, after launching the Dalit Bandhu scheme for Dalits, the government promised to initiate a similar Muslim Bandhu scheme.
However, no progress has been made on this front, and now the new scheme for BC communities has also overlooked Muslims. Consequently, Muslims belonging to the BC category are unable to avail themselves of the Rs 1,00,000 scheme.
Various professional and artisanal Muslim communities, including the Quraish community, Muslim perfume sellers, Muslim barbers, Muslim animal skin traders, Muslim dhobis, and even beggars, have been classified under the BC(E) category due to their occupations and craftsmanship.
Despite the inclusion of Muslim communities in the BC(E) category, the scheme announced under GoMS-5 fails to encompass Muslims. This situation has sparked suspicions that the government is deliberately depriving minorities, particularly Muslims, of these crucial schemes. Despite representations made by various Muslim community organizations, government officials have cited it as a policy decision in which they are unable to intervene.