Jaipur: Ahead of the state assembly polls, Congress is going all out to woo Muslims.
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot played to the gallery while inaugurating the Haj House, a long pending project, at the Karbala Maidan on Sunday.
In the presence of close to 4,000 Muslims, Gehlot assured the gathering that the government will look into all possible demands of the community. "Jo chahoge, wo milega," he said amid thunderous applause from the crowd, which included several Muslim leaders.
He said the state has numerous schemes and policies for the development of Muslims and the community must avail of their benefits.
Gehlot announced to fund the construction of the second storey of the Haj House and a girls school in the Karbala area, which is dominated by Muslims.
Both the demands were raised by Salim Kagzi, chairman, State Haj Committee, who addressed the gathering before the CM took the stage.
He also informed the gathering that the government, under special consideration, has allowed the setting up of private Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University in Jodhpur which is run by a minority group Mewar Muslim Educational and Welfare Society.
He further announced that the government will revise the rent of properties being used as government offices in sync with the market rate. "I assure that our government will revise the rents on Waqf properties to make the board financially independent," he said with the view that a financially sound board will mean more resources for development of minorities in a district.
Following the Gopalgarh incident, Muslims have time and again expressed their anger against the Congress government in the state.
BJP dissident Kirori Lal Meena too has been making efforts to win over the community, threatening to erode the traditional vote bank of Congress and Samajwadi Party in the state.
A poll-wary Congress government, therefore, wasted no time to announce Rs 1,000 crore allocation for minorities in the state budget 2013. Besides providing funding to all minorities' constitutional bodies, the budget has allocated Rs 200 crore for development of the Muslim community in the state.
Gehlot asked the gathering to not fall prey to communal forces. "People here know the truth of communal forces and I am sure they will support any party that supports them."
The first round of sops for Muslims come post Gopalgarh by awarding plum posts to leaders who extended support to Gehlot government during the crises further helped the chief minister. The appointment of Amin Khan as cabinet minister, Naseem Akhtar as minister of state and Zahida Khan as parliamentary secretary to long-pending political appointments like Maulana Fazle Haq as chairman of State Madarsa Board were in fact, steps in this direction.
It's raining sops for Muslims.
* Rs 200 crore for development fund for minorities
* 20 residential school for Muslims
* 20 ITI (Industrial training institutes) in minorities' areas
* 125 hostels for boys and girls in each district and 23 hostels in Muslim blocks
* Rs 10 crore for State Waqf Board
* Rs 25 crore for Madrassa Board
* Appointment of 3,000 computer and para teachers for madrassas
* 6,000 madrassa teachers to be regularized
(Courtesy: The Times of India)
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot played to the gallery while inaugurating the Haj House, a long pending project, at the Karbala Maidan on Sunday.
In the presence of close to 4,000 Muslims, Gehlot assured the gathering that the government will look into all possible demands of the community. "Jo chahoge, wo milega," he said amid thunderous applause from the crowd, which included several Muslim leaders.
He said the state has numerous schemes and policies for the development of Muslims and the community must avail of their benefits.
Gehlot announced to fund the construction of the second storey of the Haj House and a girls school in the Karbala area, which is dominated by Muslims.
Both the demands were raised by Salim Kagzi, chairman, State Haj Committee, who addressed the gathering before the CM took the stage.
He also informed the gathering that the government, under special consideration, has allowed the setting up of private Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University in Jodhpur which is run by a minority group Mewar Muslim Educational and Welfare Society.
He further announced that the government will revise the rent of properties being used as government offices in sync with the market rate. "I assure that our government will revise the rents on Waqf properties to make the board financially independent," he said with the view that a financially sound board will mean more resources for development of minorities in a district.
Following the Gopalgarh incident, Muslims have time and again expressed their anger against the Congress government in the state.
BJP dissident Kirori Lal Meena too has been making efforts to win over the community, threatening to erode the traditional vote bank of Congress and Samajwadi Party in the state.
A poll-wary Congress government, therefore, wasted no time to announce Rs 1,000 crore allocation for minorities in the state budget 2013. Besides providing funding to all minorities' constitutional bodies, the budget has allocated Rs 200 crore for development of the Muslim community in the state.
Gehlot asked the gathering to not fall prey to communal forces. "People here know the truth of communal forces and I am sure they will support any party that supports them."
The first round of sops for Muslims come post Gopalgarh by awarding plum posts to leaders who extended support to Gehlot government during the crises further helped the chief minister. The appointment of Amin Khan as cabinet minister, Naseem Akhtar as minister of state and Zahida Khan as parliamentary secretary to long-pending political appointments like Maulana Fazle Haq as chairman of State Madarsa Board were in fact, steps in this direction.
It's raining sops for Muslims.
* Rs 200 crore for development fund for minorities
* 20 residential school for Muslims
* 20 ITI (Industrial training institutes) in minorities' areas
* 125 hostels for boys and girls in each district and 23 hostels in Muslim blocks
* Rs 10 crore for State Waqf Board
* Rs 25 crore for Madrassa Board
* Appointment of 3,000 computer and para teachers for madrassas
* 6,000 madrassa teachers to be regularized
(Courtesy: The Times of India)