Minority budget allocation inadequate, says Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Karnataka
Bengaluru: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Karnataka said the allocation made for minority welfare in the state budget was inadequate when compared to the community’s population share and development requirements.
Addressing reporters, on Saturday, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Karnataka president Mohammed Sa’ad Belgami said the state budget with a total outlay of ₹4.48 lakh crore had earmarked around ₹3,400 crore for minority welfare programmes and schemes.
He pointed out that minorities constitute nearly 15 percent of Karnataka’s population, but the allocation for their welfare accounts for less than one per cent of the total budget.
“Allocating not even one per cent of the overall budget outlay for minorities raises serious questions about equity and proportional representation in public spending,” Belgami said.
He also referred to the Congress party’s election manifesto, which had promised that annual allocation for minority welfare would be increased to ₹10,000 crore.
According to him, the current allocation marks a decline from the previous figure of ₹4,700 crore, which had constituted about 1.18 per cent of the total budget.
Belgami said minority communities continue to face gaps in access to quality education, employment opportunities, housing and support for entrepreneurship.
In this context, he said stronger measures were needed to expand scholarship schemes, strengthen minority educational institutions, promote skill development and encourage entrepreneurship among minority youth.
He urged the government to take concrete steps in future budgets to ensure adequate resources are provided for the educational, economic and social advancement of minority communities in the state.
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Sabarimala gold loss: How did the accused reach Rahul's home, asks Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday hit back at Rahul Gandhi for targeting the ruling CPI(M) over the Sabarimala gold loss case during a poll campaign, questioning how the accused in the case had managed to reach the Congress leader's home.
The Marxist veteran was apparently referring to a widely circulated purported photograph in which the prime accused in the Sabarimala gold loss cases, Unnikrishnan Potty, accompanied by some senior Congress leaders, was seen with Sonia Gandhi at her residence in Delhi.
He also said people have already given a reply to Rahul, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on this matter.
The CM's reaction came a day after Rahul sang a line from a popular parody song about CPI(M) leaders' alleged roles in the gold theft at the Sabarimala temple while addressing a corner meeting as part of the assembly polls campaign in Pathanamthitta district.
As he sang the line "swarnam kattathu aarappa" (who stole the gold of Ayyappa) from a song used by the Congress-led UDF to target the ruling Left during the local body polls a few months ago, at the meeting in Pathanamthitta -- the district where the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa is located-- the crowd cheered Rahul.
Soon after Gandhi targeted the Left party over the gold loss issue, CPI (M) activists began a social media campaign making allegations against his mother and former party chief Sonia Gandhi in connection with the matter.
While replying to a question regarding this, CM Vijayan said the Congress leader already got a befitting reply and should he also repeat the same.
"If he thinks about how all those who were involved in the stealing had reached his home...then he will get a reply. Anyway, we don't have any such flaws," Vijayan added.
Attacking the Left and the BJP over the Sabarimala gold loss issue, Rahul Gandhi on Monday had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had forgotten about what happened in Sabarimala, during his visit to Palakkad as part of election campaign.
Rahul claimed that the prime minister remained silent to avoid damaging the LDF.
He had also said that a UDF government would ensure that those responsible for alleged irregularities related to the temple are punished.
