Syeda Amtul

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH —  "Telangana state of India will soon form an NRI ministry on the lines of the Kerala model to look after the NRI affairs. Indian Government will soon provide 12 percent reservations for Muslims in education and employment by overcoming all legal hurdles,” said the deputy chief minister of the newly-formed Telangana state of India, Mohammad Mahmood Ali.



Ali, who is here to perform Haj, was addressing a felicitation ceremony organized by the Bazm-e-Ittehad - Jeddah in coordination with 14 other socio-welfare NRI associations of Telangana here.



While addressing a packed hall of about 600 attendees, Ali said: "We want to make Telangana a welfare and a golden state just like Saudi Arabia, where every citizen gets his due right especially in education and healthcare."



According to Ali, the Telangana government has allotted a yearly budget of Rs10 billion for the welfare of the Muslims.



The Government Order No. 4 is already signed by the chief minister and now 40,000 Muslim girls, every year, will receive marriage assistance/allowance of Rs51,000 each. Senior citizens and widows will get a monthly allowance of Rs1,000 each, and the physically handicapped will get a monthly allowance of Rs1,500.



The deputy chief minister appealed to the Saudi government, Islamic Development Bank and Saudi businessmen to invest in Telangana, which is well-equipped with skilled workforce, favorable locations and has an investor-friendly business environment with the state-of-art technology, especially IT. 



Ali assured the NRIs that from now onwards police from other states of India will not arrest a Telenganite without the consent of local authorities.



In the past, the police, especially from Gujarat, arrested Muslim youths who were kept in captivity for years before being released by courts as innocents. 



While appreciating the qualities and vision of the first Chief Minister of Telangana K. Chandra Sekhar Rao, Ali said: "The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party has a strong relation with the AIMIM and its supremo Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi in order to transform their golden vision of Telangana into realities."



Dr. Syed Ali Mahmood, convener and the chief patron of the Bazm-e-Ittehad-Jeddah, welcomed and felicitated the deputy chief minister.



He further said that all NRIs are not well off here, adding, "the bridge between the rich and poor families and educated and uneducated children of NRIs is widening.



Those who get salary between SR3,000 to SR5,000 are unable to send their children to private Indian International Schools because of there hefty fee structure.



On the other hand, the International Indian Schools do not provide admission to all children of the NRIs.



Moreover, the admission procedure is on the basis of lottery system not the basis of parents' income.



Mahmood requested the deputy chief minister to inform the foreign ministry to make sure that all deserving Indians must get the basic and affordable education along with a piece of land or a house for poor.



Owaisi, president of the Bazm-e-Ittehad, appreciated the declarations and promises of the deputy chief minister for the empowerment of Muslims in the Telangana and requested him to implement the same.



He also requested the Ali to take initiative and solve the education problem of NRIs in Saudi Arabia, which is a basic right of all Indian citizens. 



He praised Rao for appointing the deputy chief minister as a Muslim candidate.



He also requested the chief minister to visit Saudi Arabia in order to strengthen the very old ties of Hyderabad-Saudi relationship and to get investment in the Telangana.



The program was anchored by Syed Khaja Viqaruddin, the joint secretary of Bazm-e ittihad and President of Twin cities welfare association.



Earlier all representatives of NRI associations of Telangana presented a brief intro about their association and its activities.



The program started with the recitation of a few verses from the holy Qur'an by Mohammad Noor followed by a Naat by Mohammad Yousufuddin Amjad. Appreciation mementos were presented by deputy chief minister and Ahmeduddin Owaisi along with Mahmood to Mirza Qudrath Nawaz Baig and Nadeem Abdul Basith for their outstanding work in organizing the ceremony and making it successful.



Abdul Qayyum, general secretary of Bazm-e-ittehad, was also appreciated for his support in organizing the event.



Socio-Welfare organizations' representatives, who coordinated the event, were Ubaidur Rahman, Yousufuddin Amjad, Abdul Qayyum (Bazm e Ittehad), Abdul Hakeem, Shamim Kausar, Aijaz Ahmed Khan (Khake Taiba trust), Dr. Fareed S. Khaja (Global Travels and Tourism Group), Abdul Razzak Mohiuddin, Azmath Emraan (Twincities Youth Welfare. Ass.), Moazzam Ali Ifteqar (Telangana Gulf Employment Forum), Mohd. Ibrahim (Telangana Youth Welfare Association), Siadath Ali Khan (Telangana United Forum), Jamal Quadri (Urdu Academy), Aleem Khan Falki (Socio Reform Society), Mirza Qudrath Nawaz Baig (Islamic Circle of Middle East), Khaled Qadeer (Deccan NRI's Group), Mohd. Zaheeruddin (Noor Educational Society), Mohammad Jabbar (Telangana NRI Forum), Naveed Afroze (Old Boys Association Jamia Nizamia).