The Minorities Welfare outlay of ₹2,000 crore announced by Finance Minister Etala Rajender on Thursday saw a boost to education, with 60% of the estimates earmarked for the cause.
A glance at the figures shows that a chunk of the estimates are for the Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society, which runs 204 residential schools and two junior colleges across the State.
The estimates have seen a substantial increase from last fiscal year's (FY) ₹425 crore to ₹753 crore for 2018-19.
Similarly, the estimates for scholarships and stipends have been increased from ₹203 crore to ₹478 crore for FY 2018-19.
Keeping in line with a recent government order which gave the green signal for minorities to be given benefits on par with ST and SC communities, the government allocated grants-in-aid of ₹25 crore for T-Prime and T-SEZ.
In other schemes, the State government increased the Shaadi Mubarak budget estimates by ₹50 crore, thus enhancing it to ₹200 crore for FY 2018-19.
At a time when the State government is to issue a notification for 66 posts of Urdu tranlators in various departments, the Urdu Academy saw a small increase in estimates from ₹1.5 crore last FY to ₹2 crore this year.
Despite a large increase in the number of applications for subsidies for small entrepreneurs, the government estimates for Bank Linked Income Generated Schemes was pegged at ₹160 crore, which is an increase of only ₹10 lakh compared to the last FY. The government also allocated budget estimates of ₹7 crore for a Sikh Bhavan and ₹29.9 crore for construction of a Christian Bhavan, which is stuck in litigation.
