Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government is taking comprehensive steps for the educational, economic and social uplift of the minorities, the minority welfare committee chairman and MLA Mohammed Nasir said here on Wednesday.
Speaking at the panel’s meeting held at the Secretariat, Nasir said the alliance government was committed to ensuring equal participation of minorities in all sectors through several welfare and development initiatives.
MLAs and MLCs attended the meeting at which proposals aimed at minority welfare were reviewed. Nasir said priority was being given to education, healthcare, employment and skill development for backward minority communities.
He stated that the Rs.275 crore sanctioned earlier by the Centre under the Prime Minister Jan Vikas Yojana had remained pending during the YSR Congress rule due to non-submission of utilisation certificates and non-release of matching grants.
The present government, he said, succeeded in securing the release of the funds within a year of its assumption of power.
Detailed project reports worth nearly Rs.1,000 crore have now been prepared under PMJVY for infrastructure and welfare works, including for government hospital buildings at the Welfare Centre in Guntur and a hostel construction in Nandyal.
Nasir said the pending honorarium dues to mouzans and imams had been cleared soon after the present government assumed office, and that proposals were being prepared to extend benefits to more eligible beneficiaries.
The chairman said the government had allocated Rs.20 crore for minority women’s skill development and livelihood programmes. Free coaching for competitive examinations was also being arranged for Muslim students.
Nasir said the government would hold discussions with banks to improve access to education, agriculture and self-employment loans for minorities, besides addressing BC-E Dudekula issues and Urdu teacher vacancies in the Mega DSC recruitment process.
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