HYDERABAD: The Congress has decided to go in for a massive outreach to connect with minorities across the state and enlist their support in the ensuing Assembly elections. The decision was taken in the first meeting of the 'Minorities Declaration Committee' held at Gandhi Bhavan here on Monday.
Later, briefing the media, Shabbir Ali informed that the committee had a detailed discussion for nearly three hours on various issues concerning minorities.
He said that the four per cent Muslim reservation and other welfare schemes introduced by the previous Congress regime had benefitted over 20 lakh poor Muslim families since 2005-06. However, he said that the welfare of minorities took a severe beating after the TRS came to power in 2014.
He accused Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao of neglecting the minorities' welfare by denying funds and representations in public bodies. He pointed out there were six Muslim MLCs during the Congress regime.
Shabbir Ali said that the Minorities Declaration Committee would interact with the Muslim and Christian religious organisations, professionals, managements of minority institutions, civil society members, and all other stakeholders, whose suggestions would be considered before preparing the draft declaration for inclusion in the party’s manifesto.
A dedicated email ID and WhatsApp number would be provided to seek suggestions from the common people.
The senior Congress leader, presently the TPCC PAC convener, said that the schemes introduced by the Congress government like fee reimbursement and scholarships, by the BRS government. The budget allocated for minorities in education and other sectors was either never spent in full or summarily shelved.
The meeting was attended by senior PCC and minorities leaders, including Manikrao Thakre, Mansoor Ali Khan Zafar Javeed, Mohammed Azharuddin, Shaik Abdullah Sohail, Azmathullah Hussaini, Obedullah Kothwal, Deepak John, Uzma Shakir, Prof M.D. Riyaz, Mohammed Faheem Qureshi, Khusro Pasha Biyabani, Ezekiel Birdudugadda, and Rashed Khan.
