All minority residential schools will be upgraded to degree colleges gradually providing all necessary facilities and quality education free of cost to students, Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said.

Addressing a gathering of Muslims at Pocharam, his native village in the mandal, after distributing new clothes in connection with Ramzan, on Friday, he said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had decided to celebrate it as a public festival with fervour and gaiety all over the State. Hence, Iftaar feasts would be organised officially at all important centres on June 19, he said.

Srinivas Reddy said that this year 2,500 sets of clothes were allotted to the Banswada constituency compared to 1,000 last year and of them 850 were distributed till Friday. He also gave away clothes to poor Muslims in Nizamabad district headquarters town and Nasrullahbad on Friday.