The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Monday, Aug 16, slammed the alliance government in Maharashtra comprising Shiv Sena, Congress party & Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for playing fast and loose on the subject of welfare of the minorities in the state. The BJP’s Mumbai unit Vice-President, Haider Azam, who is also an erstwhile chairman of Maulana Azad Minorities Financial Development Council (MAMFDC) accused the Maha Vikas Aaghadi (MVA) government of engaging in just lip service when it comes to the welfare of the minorities. He alleged that the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led government has halted the welfare schemes aimed at the welfare of the minorities in the state initiated by his party led former government in the state.
“The biggest losers are the minorities as welfare schemes and programmes aimed at the development of them get stuck. All the schemes that our government launched to educationally and economically empower the minorities are in limbo,” alleged Haider Azam, quoted TOI.
The opposition leader informed that the “secular” government run by Shiv Sena, Congress party & NCP in Maharashtra have failed to appoint the heads of the departments/corporations/commissions directly linked to the welfare of the minorities in the state. Azam named departments/corporations/commissions like MAMFDC, Minorities Commission, Urdu Academy, WAKF Board and State Haj Committee which are running without their heads.
Azam recalled the letter written by him in June 2020 to CM Uddhav Thackeray & State Minorities Minister Nawab Malik to release the unused funds of Rs. 130 crore lying with the corporation to benefit the minorities in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Azam alleged that the duo did not act upon his requests. “Apart from this, in my 16-month tenure as MAMFDC chairman, I had proposed loans to women self-help groups and scholarships to students. But all these schemes are on the backburner. There is no willingness to do anything for the minorities,” Azam accused the MVA government for being indifferent towards minorities in the state.
Reacting to Azam’s charges against his alliance government, Minorities Affairs Minister Nawab Malik rejected the claims made by the opposition leader. “If a corporation or a commission doesn’t have its chairman, it doesn’t mean it is shut. There are officials who ensure implementation of the schemes,” stated Malik while reacting to Azam’s accusations, TOI quoted.
