Karnataka Housing and Minorities Welfare Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan expressed his concern on Monday regarding the allocation of development funds for minorities in a constituency represented by a BJP MLA who made alleged disparaging remarks about Muslims. Khan's remarks in the Karnataka assembly stirred controversy with BJP legislators arguing that this approach was discriminatory and obstructed government funding for minority welfare.
The discussion during the question hour saw Shikaripura MLA B Y Vijayendra, who also serves as the BJP state president, questioning Khan about funds designated for minority colonies. He criticized the government for allocating Rs 1,000 crore for minority development amidst severe drought conditions, while farmers awaited assistance, according to a report on PTI.
Khan, responsible for Housing, Wakf, and Minorities Welfare, clarified that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah didn't release Rs 1,000 crore but devised a three-year action plan amounting to that sum. The budget allocation for minority colony development was Rs 250 crore with an additional Rs 50 crore under the Panchayat Development Plan. However, only Rs 165 crore of this has been disbursed, Khan revealed.
He highlighted the disparity, noting that minorities received less than one percent of the state's Rs 3.71 lakh crore budget. Khan further explained that minority colonies were categorized into A, B and C based on population size.
In response, BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal pointed out the 1.2 lakh Muslim population in the Vijayapura constituency, questioning why no funds had been allocated there.
Zameer said, “Should you be given grants? Do you want grants? After becoming MLA you said no Burqa-clad woman and no one with a beard should approach me. We will not do anything for Muslims. How can we give you grants?”
Stating that Patil's constituency has more numbers of Muslims, Zameer as per the report said, “Since Patil has said that he will not work for Muslims, how am I supposed to release funds? If he says that he will not carry out the work, I will take over the responsibility of executing the work myself in his constituency.”