HYDERABAD: The Telangana government is all set to give wings to a girl from the Old City . Poised for flight, Salwa Fatima , who is the first pilot from purana shahar, will be given Rs 35.5 lakh so as to enable her to soar the skies, this time, in a multi-engine aircraft.

Highly placed sources told STOI on Saturday that the chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has sanctioned the funds. A government order (GO) will be issued to the effect next week.

“Taking a keen interest, the CM has treated the case of Salwa Fatima as a “special case,” said Syed Omar Jaleel , special secretary, minorities welfare department. Describing Salwa as a “young girl who shows immense promise”, he added, “The funds will be released in two instalments. They will be given directly to the aviation school where Salwa will be studying. The GO will be released soon.” There exists a precedent of the government granting aid to an individual – to a boy from the SC community, Jaleel observed.

Thanks to the large heartedness of philanthropists, family and her own unbending resolve, Salwa, who already has a commercial pilot license to fly a single engine aircraft, has already clocked over 200 hours of flying. And as a logical conclusion, she wants to upgrade her flying skills to multi-engine aircraft. “In order to do this, I will have to take two courses: the multiengine rating and a specialisation course called type rating. For the former, I will need to have 15 hours of flying in a multiengine aircraft and 10 hours of simulation. The latter will enable me to fly an airbus,” she says. She is still unaware of the CM giving his assent to the release of funds.

The girl, who is a healthy blend of the traditional and the modern, says that she has shortlisted the GMR Aviation Academy and the Telangana State Aviation Academy as her preferred flying schools. “Both courses put together will entail expenses of around Rs 35 lakh,” she says.

Positive about support from her in-laws, she continues, “My husband and in-laws are in fact supportive of my aspirations. There is a tradition of women working here. In fact, my parents wanted me to go to a family which encourages me to work.”