Vijayawada: Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu has promised Muslims that he would restore the Dulhan scheme for minorities, without any conditions, if he returns to power in the 2024 Assembly polls.
Naidu toured Pedakurapadu constituency in Palnadu district on Wednesday and addressed a meeting of the minorities in Dharanikota.
The TD chief said, “We will pass a special law if necessary to check attacks against Muslim places of worship. If necessary we will make a sub plan for Muslims. I request the minority brothers to bless the TD wholeheartedly in the upcoming elections.”
Naidu said the YSRC government stopped the Dulhan scheme, saying it had no funds, but Jagan Mohan Reddy “looted” ₹ 1,000 crore so far in the form of advertisements for his Sakshi newspaper. “Why did Jagan Mohan Reddy not give funds to the Dulhan, Ramzan Tofa, Dukan-Makan schemes by using the thousand crores,” he asked.
The TD chief said he was interacting with the minorities to know their sentiments and problems and he would implement a proper action plan for them in future. “NTR set up the minority corporation. The minority commission was also formulated by the TD government,” he said.
Naidu said that when he became chief minister in 2014, he had declared Urdu as the second language in 13 districts of AP. The TD government had built Haj houses in Vijayawada and Kadapa, started Urdu University in Kurnool and a sum of ₹ 50,000 was provided under the Dulhan scheme to the minorities without any conditions, he said.
Naidu said Jagan Mohan Reddy introduced a new rule that both the Muslim couple must have completed 10th Standard and lived in the state in order to be qualified for the Dulhan scheme. “Why did Jagan Mohan Reddy not set any such rule for his advisers? I promise you that when the TD government comes to power, it will implement the previous Dulhan scheme without any such conditions.”
Naidu claimed that the TD government implemented 4 per cent reservation for Muslims by fighting the case in the High Court and the Supreme Court. The then Congress government did not implement the reservations for minorities. “The TD government respected the sentiments of the minorities by providing them financial assistance for the repair of 316 dargahs, funded for the construction of 1,385 mosques, 43 graveyards, 65 Eidgahs and 164 Muslim prayer halls,” he claimed.
The former chief minister also claimed that the TD government offered honorarium to Imams and Maujans for the first time in the country. It also implemented a scheme for foreign education for Muslims, under which 567 youths went abroad. Naidu promised to revive the foreign education scheme for the Muslim youth.
