The International Federation of Karnataka Christian Associations (IFKCA) has criticised the State Government for not appointing a Christian as the chairperson for the Christian Development Corporation.
In a release issued here, IFKCA president Louis Lobo said that the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had in the State Budget for 2011-12 announced the setting up of a Christian Development Corporation and allotted Rs. 50 crore for it.
The corporation appeared to have been set up to pacify the Christians, who were angry and insulted consequent to the submission of the report by the Justice Somasekhara Commission, which went into the attacks on the churches in the State in 2008.
But the Christian Development Corporation started functioning in November, nearly nine months after its announcement. The money allotted for the corporation had to be spent in the next four months. But there does not appear to be any step being taken in that direction. This was because either the Government did not want to use the funds or was not bothered about Christians.
In the budget, there was a proposal to appoint 13 members from different sections of the Christian community to the corporation. But the corporation formed recently had only eight Christians as its members. The remaining five members of the corporation were various government departmental heads. To top it all, the Chief Minister was the chairperson of the corporation.
Christians had not asked for a separate corporation for themselves. After giving a corporation for the community, an able person from the community should have been appointed as its chairperson. Although Christians had made their mark in education, healthcare, and social service sectors, it was distressing that the Government could not find a single able person from the community to head the corporation.
Why has the same yardstick not been applied to the corporations formed for other communities? Why should the Minorities Commission and Minorities Development Corporation have a Muslim as its head?
Why should not the Chief Minister be the chairperson for these corporations and commissions?
Can the Chief Minister focus on the functioning of the Christian Development Corporation, when he had a hectic schedule? All this was being done because the government felt that it could treat the Christian community any way it wanted.
