Appeasement politics on! Siddaramaiah allots Rs 200 cr for Christians, Rs 100 cr for Waqf properties

Bengaluru: The Congress government in Karnataka led by Chief Minister K. Siddaramaiah, which is often being accused of indulging in appeasement politics, on Friday lent credence to the opposition's oft-repeated claims further when it allocated Rs 200 crore for the development of Christian community and Rs 100 crore for "the protection and development of Waqf properties".

Presenting his 15th state budget, Siddaramaiah said: "An allocation of Rs 100 crore will be made for development of Waqf properties. There will be a special focus on protection and conservation of protected monuments which are maintained by the ASI."

He also proposed workshops on current affairs for Moulvis and muttavalis registered with the State Waqf Board.

"Programmes at a cost of Rs 393 crore will be formulated and implemented during 2024-25 through Minorities Development Corporations," he said.

Other decisions included: Establishment of 50 Morarji Desai Residential schools with 50 students each; 100 Post-matric boys/girls hostels with a capacity of 100 students each; 100 new Maulana Azad schools; pre-university colleges in 25 schools which have its own buildings.

The government also announced restarting of free reimbursement scheme for students of minority communities studying Bsc, Nursing/GNM Nursing courses in government and private colleges.

Allocation of Rs 10 crore for minority communities women who take up self employment activities.

The chief minister said Tripitikas, the sacred texts of Buddhist community, will be translated into Kannada. Necessary grants would be provided.

The state government also allocated Rs 1 crore for the development of famous Shri Nanak Jhira Saheb Gurudwara in Bidar.