Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday announced that the Telangana government would soon provide Christians a subsidy to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, even as he promised to build Christian Bhavan before the next Christmas.
Mr. Rao made the announcements during the official Christmas celebrations at Nizam College grounds.
“There are two things that (Archbishop) Tumma Bala told me. There is a need for a budget for Jerusalem pilgrimage. We will make sure that it is introduced,” Mr. Rao said.
Acknowledging that the construction of Christian Bhavan has hit a roadblock, the Chief Minister said, “My dream is to construct Christian Bhavan in Hyderabad. Even today, I was in consultation with the Advocate General of Telangana. I am promising you that I will take it up myself and see that it is successfully completed before the next Christmas.”
He also announced a budget of ₹10 crore for the construction and repair of churches. Implying that the State would adopt a zero tolerance approach towards Christians being discriminated against, Mr. Rao said, “If anything happens anywhere against any Christian or any Christian institute in the State, it will be ruthlessly curbed.” Touching upon the Kaleshwaram project, the Chief Minister said the Government of India was according the required approvals. This, he said, would be a step closer to achieving Bangaru Telangana.
Earlier in the evening, he cut a cake and distributed Christmas gift packs. Advisor to Government for Minorities Welfare A.K. Khan said that the Christmas feast was organised in 308 churches in the State with 200 in the city alone. As many as 2.5 lakh poor families were given gift packs. Archbishop Tumma Bala, Revered Purushotham, Bishop of Methodist Church M.A. Daniel, Minorities Welfare Department Secretary Syed Omer Jaleel, among others, also spoke.
