Express News Service By

HYDERABAD: A grand Iftar for 5,000 people in Nizam college grounds, honorarium for Imams and Moazzans and clothes for nearly two lakh Muslim families, all these are part of a slew of sops announced by the state government for Muslims for Ramzan.

Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced these sops worth Rs 26 crore to Muslims after a review meeting with his cabinet colleagues.

Speaking to reporters after the review here on Thursday, Rao said the Iftar hosted by the state government earlier was confined to Hyderabad and that too in the Jubilee Hall with limited invitees.

“But, Telangana is home to ‘Ganga Jamuna tehzeeb’ (a culture of communal harmony). The government has decided to organise the festival on a grand scale,” the chief minister said.

He said Iftar would be organised on July 8 at the Nizam college here in which 5,000 people would attend the event. Ambassadors of several Muslim countries would be invited for the event, he said. Besides this, Iftar party will be hosted to around 1,000 each at 100 other mosques in Hyderabad. Iftar will also be hosted at 95 Assembly headquarters towns at the mosques.

The chief minister said the state government has decided to distribute clothes to 1.95 lakh Muslim families in the state near mosques under the supervision of Imams. In a fulfilment of election promise, the TRS government would begin offering Rs 1,000 per month to Imams and Mouzzans, Rao said. There are around 3,000 mosques registered with Wakf Board and another 1,500 to 2,000 unregistered mosques. The honorarium would be paid to Imams and Mouzzans working in all the 5,000 mosques, Rao said.

The state government would spend Rs 9.71 crore for distribution of clothes, Rs 4 crore for Iftar parties and Rs 12 crore for payment of honorarium this year.

He said all the programmes announced would be implemented under an official committee headed by IPS officer AK Khan.

The state government would also spend another Rs 25 lakh for providing food on July 8 at all orphanages on the occasion, he said.

■ The state govt to spend Rs 25 lakh to provide food at all orphanages on July 8

■ To distribute clothes to 1.95 lakh Muslim families in the state