GUNTUR: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has said “every Muslim sister and brother” should acquire best education to empower themselves. “Education is the best empowerment. Hence, our government's focus is mainly on this sector. Win the world by learning English besides Urdu,” he told the Muslim youths.
“There were 65,783 acres of Waqf lands in AP. Of these, 580 acres of encroached land was restored to the Waqf. “Our government is digitising all the records for the long-term preservation of Waqf properties and completed the global positioning survey of 3,772 properties,” the CM said.
He was participating in the Minority Welfare Day and National Education Day celebrations at the Sri Venkateswara Vignan Mandiram here on Friday. The event marked the 135th birth anniversary of India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
The Chief Minister said his government has laid special focus on the education sector and made the tenth standard mandatory for the Tohfa scheme. Good education would serve the Muslim community well and enable them achieve better living standards and excel in the competitive world.
Referring to the plea to allow Muslims without Class X certificate too to avail the Tohfa scheme, Jagan Reddy said this was not advisable. “My intention is that Muslim students should study and compete with the world.’’
The CM reminded the people to observe how the state transformed after he came to power in 2019. “From no power to the minorities, to a Muslim deputy CM in power now, the state has evolved exponentially,” he said and underlined the efforts taken by his government to uplift the status of minorities.
Recalling the services of the country’s first education minister, Jagan Reddy said Azad's services were laudable.
“Former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy was the first to provide reservations to Muslims. If he took one step forward for the welfare of minorities, I will take two steps forward. I am proud to be the son of a great leader. We have given the post of deputy chief minister to a minority leader and four Muslims have been made MLCs. Deputy chairman of the legislative council is a minority woman,’’ he said.
Highlighting the welfare activities taken up by the government, Jagan Mohan Reddy said Rs 10,309 crore was given to the minorities through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode in the last three years. During the previous five years, then-CM Chandrababu Naidu gave only Rs 2,665 crore to the minorities, he said.
The CM said that within three years, his government gave over Rs 20,000 crore for welfare of the minorities. Another Rs 10,000 crore was given to the minorities through non-DBT modes.
Referring to the protection of alienated Waqf properties in the state, he said steps were being taken to protect the Waqf properties. So far, 580 acres of alienated or encroached land out of a total pool of 65,783 acres of the Waqf land was restored to the Waqf Board. With a view to protecting the Waqf properties, all the details are being digitized. The Differential Global Positioning Survey was conducted for 3,072 Waqf properties to protect them with fencing, he added.
The Chief Minister felicitated a select set of individuals with cash awards and mementos in recognition of their efforts for development of the education sector and Urdu language. Deputy chief minister Amjad Basha and Guntur East MLA Mustafa were also present.
