HYDERABAD: Cautioning people against the possible illegal removal of voters’ names in the guise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy appealed to thwart such attempts in the state.
Recalling controversies surrounding SIR in West Bengal, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Revanth said such practices should not occur in Telangana.
The chief minister also confirmed that the state government would bear the additional financial burden faced by Haj pilgrims this year due to the rise in air travel fares linked to higher fuel prices.
Flagging off buses carrying Haj pilgrims at the Haj House on Friday, Revanth said the Centre had hiked ticket fares following aviation fuel prices increasing due to the prevailing crisis in West Asia. To ensure pilgrims were not burdened further, the state government decided to bear the additional cost, he said.
Revanth said his government respected all religions and added that Hindus and Muslims were being treated “as two brothers and my two eyes”.
Targeting the BJP, the chief minister said the party was trying to come to power in Telangana too. “The Congress had stopped the BJP in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The BJP’s presence in Andhra Pradesh was under the N Chandrababu Naidu quota,” Revanth said.
Recalling last year’s bus accident in Saudi Arabia in which 44 Umrah pilgrims died, Revanth said the state government had provided compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased and had also paid for visit of the victi-ms’ relatives to Saudi Arabia.
Highlighting minority welfare initiatives, he said minorities were receiving their due share in job opportunities and schemes.
‘Minority welfare my govt’s motto’
Scholarships were also being provided to support minority students pursuing education abroad.
Stating that many poor minorities in Hyderabad earned their livelihood by driving autorickshaws, the chief minister said the government had decided to provide free retrofitting services to all autorickshaws operating within the Outer Ring Road, converting them into electric vehicles.
“This initiative will result in significant savings for auto drivers,” he said.
Revanth also said there was greater demand for blue-collar jobs than white-collar jobs and noted that countries such as Germany and Japan offered more employment opportunities than the United States. He added that the government was upgrading Industrial Training Institutes into Advanced Training Centres to equip youth with skills needed to compete globally.
