CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and MP Brinda Karat has urged Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to formulate a scheme urgently for giving Imams salary, as ordered by the Supreme Court, so that it could be included in the 2011-12 budget.
In a letter, she drew Mr. Mukherjee's attention to the assurance he gave on implementation of the court judgment. “You will recall that on August 21, 2010, the matter was raised during zero hour in the Lok Sabha. In response, you said: ‘The order of the Supreme Court is quite clear and the government will take note of the order, direction of the Supreme Court. The government is fully aware of it and it will take appropriate action.' However, the all-India organisation of Imams has been eagerly awaiting ‘appropriate action' from the government, which unfortunately has not been taken,” Ms. Karat said.
It would be most appropriate, she said, if the government urgently formulated the scheme, in consultation with the Central Waqf Board as ordered by the court, so that an allocation could be made for it in the budget.
