Former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir has criticized the BJP Government for not increasing the overall allocations for the minority welfare in the Union Budget 2022-23.
Reacting to the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Tuesday, Shabbir Ali said the allocations for Minority Affairs have been reduced to 2020-21 level. He said an amount of Rs. 5,020.50 crore has been allocated for the year 2022-23. While this Rs 674.50 crore more than the revised figures of Rs 4,346.45 crore in 2021-22, it is less than the allocation of Rs 5,029 crore made in 2020-21. Therefore, the slogan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas’ has once again proved hollow.
The Congress leader said the Central Govt had spent about Rs 37.70 Lakh crore in 2021-22 and it proposes to spend Rs 39.45 Lakh Crore in the next financial year. Instead of increasing the allocations for the welfare of minorities on par with expenditure on other schemes, the BJP Govt has completely neglected the minorities in the Union budget. “The Modi Govt wants to implement welfare schemes for nearly 26 crore people (or 19.4% of minorities) across the country with an amount of just Rs 5,029 Crore. This will come to average spending of about Rs 193 per person per year belonging to the minority community,” he added. He also said the allocation for Skill Development Initiatives has been reduced from Rs 276 Crore in 2021-22 to Rs 235.41 Crore in 2022-23. Similarly, the funding for the Nai Manzil – the Integrated Educational and Livelihood Initiative has been reduced from Rs 87 Crore in 2021-22 to Rs 46 crore in 2022-23. The allocations have been reduced for the Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women, he bemoaned.
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Shabbir Ali also slammed the BJP Govt for stopping the funds for Moulana Azad Education Foundation. He said Rs 70.92 Crore was allocated for MAEF in 2020-21. This was first increased to Rs 90 Crore in 2021-22, but later it was revised to Rs 76 Crore. For the year 2022-23, the funding has been completely stopped and only Rs 1 lakh crore has been earmarked for the same. He demanded that the BJP Govt change its approach towards the welfare of minorities. The Central and State Governments need to allocate adequate funds and ensure their 100% spending to achieve the set targets. He said the budget presented by Nirmala Sitharaman was highly disappointing for the minorities.
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