Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao announced complete exemption of the building fee for the Wakf Board building under construction in the Haj House premises. Responding to a request, he assured to issue orders waiving the building fee tomorrow itself. The GHMC would be instructed in this regard, the Chief Minister said in the presence of Mayor Majid Hussain.
The Wakf Board has been seeking building fee exemption for its newly constructed 7 storeyed edifice amounting to a staggering Rs. 4 crore. The Chief Minister made this announcement while addressing the second batch of Haj pilgrims here on Monday.
Mr. Rao, who donned a white cap, spoke in chaste Urdu much to the delight of the pilgrims. While those performing Haj enjoyed great reward from God, those serving them also were honoured.
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“The Telangana government is here to serve you,” he told the pilgrims and asked them to pray for the prosperity of the newly formed Telangana state and for continuance of the ‘Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb’.
Stating that the minorities were a neglected lot, Mr. Rao said a sum of Rs. 1000 crore would be allocated for minorities welfare in the budget. Government would also extend financial assistance of Rs. 51,000 for the marriage of poor Muslim girls. Earlier, household articles were given to the marrying girls but they were found to be of substandard quality. Therefore, government had decided to dispense with this practice and credit the financial assistance in the account of the brides, the Chief Minister said.
Later, he flagged the buses carrying pilgrims to the Airport.
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Deputy Chief Minister Mohmmed Mehmood Ali, Home Minister N. Narsimha Reddy, Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya, Majlis legislator Jaffer Husain Meraj were present on the occasion.
Earlier, Prof. S.A. Shukoor, Special Officer, Telangana Haj Committee, welcomed.