UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with UP Finance Minister Rajesh Aggarwal before presenting the State Budget for 2017-18, at Vidhan Sabha in Lucknow on Tuesday. Photo: PTI

The Modi and Yogi government share the common slogan of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas', but the way Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has curbed the Minority Welfare budget in his first annual budget presented in the assembly, the Muslims are feeling cheated.

Talking to India Today, senior Muslim leader of Agra Mohd. Sharif Kale said that the Yogi government has reduced the Minority Welfare budget by Rs 580 crores this year compared to the Akhilesh Yadav government, which has made the Muslims lose hope of anything good coming out of this BJP government in UP. He said that the Yogi government has allotted just Rs 2475.61 crores for the minorities and this has disheartened the Muslims who were hoping the 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' was not just a slogan.

Social activist Kamran Qureshi said that the Yogi government has allotted Rs 791.83 crores for the minority students, while another 150 crores are allotted to arrange for the fee shortfall. Similarly, for the upgradation and modernization of Madarsas, the Yogi government has allotted only Rs 394 crores, which is too less. Even earlier, the minority students could not get scholarships due to lack of funds and this situation has not improved even now.

Kamran said that the Yogi government has decided to build female hostels in Minority-dominated areas, which is quite appreciable, but this gesture becomes mere symbolism when we look at the budget of Rs 18.41 crores allotted to this scheme. If more funding had been arranged for the scheme, it would have been useful.

He opposed Yogi government's move to stop the construction of boundary walls on graveyards, for which the Akhilesh Yadav government had approved Rs 400 crores, while arranging for Rs 100 crores as grant for 146 Madarsas. However, the Yogi government hasn't set aside anything for this purpose.

Quresh Welfare Society General Secretary Mohd. Arif Advocate said that the minorities have lost hope with the first budget of Yogi government. While the backwards have been allotted Rs 1203 crores, minorities will get only Rs 941 crores, General categories will receive Rs 682 crores, while 23 crores have been set aside for tribal welfare. Rs 1950 crores have been earmarked for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, which is quite large compared to what the minorities have been given. He expressed hope that the Yogi government will think more about minority welfare and raise the funding for the same.

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