Accusing the Sangh Parivar of spreading a false narrative that the Muslim community is cornering undeserved benefits, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the Assembly on July 28 that the State government is not spending anything from its coffers to pay salaries or other benefits to madrasa teachers.
A welfare fund has been set up for madrasa teachers, to which each madrasa teacher and the respective madrasa committee make monthly contributions of ₹50 each. The welfare fund currently has 23,809 madrasa teachers as members. The government has only allocated a corpus fund for the running of the fund.
"Attempts are being made to create a false narrative and paint the Muslim community of gaining undeserved benefits from the government. Sangh Parivar is also part of the forces creating such a narrative. The communal forces would come in several forms, even under fake names of other communities. In Kerala, the majority of people from all religions hold secular values," said Mr. Vijayan.
Earlier this year, a message had gone viral across social media platforms, claiming that the State government is spending a large amount of money on salaries and other benefits to madrasa teachers. The message, which was shared also by a large number of people from outside the State too, claimed that more than ₹600 crore is being spent on salaries and pensions to them. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLA Najeeb Kanthapuram said that the CM's reply disproves this ongoing propaganda.
IUML MLA Manjalamkuzhi Ali said that the UDF Government had during its tenure of 2011-16 provided grants for the running of the welfare fund, however, the LDF Government has not taken any such steps.
Mr. Vijayan said that the government would extend all the help required when there is any difficulty in the running of the fund. Currently, there is no such situation. IUML leader P.K. Kunhalikutty said that the welfare fund governing board has too many members, for whom salaries and benefits are being paid from the contributions. Mr. Vijayan said that this can be looked into.
