The Telangana State Minorities Finance Corporation (TSMFC) on Sunday clarified that applications needn’t be filed afresh to avail the recently announced financial assistance of ₹1 lakh.
Announced ahead of the upcoming elections, the financial assistance entails 100% subsidy to beneficiaries. As compared to other bank-linked subsidy loans as provided by the TSMFC, the current scheme does not involve a bank subsidy component.
Sunday’s clarification comes after the TSMFC was apprised of the confusion among applicants who were under the impression that they would have to file applications for a second time to avail themselves of the scheme. The TSMFC said the recent GO stated that only those from the Christian community would have to apply to the Telangana State Christian Minorities Finance Corporation. Applications of other minorities would be processed from the ones that the TSMFC had received till January this year.
Funds would be released pro-rata, according to the percentage of the population. “There seemed to be a bit of confusion among the public pertaining to this matter, hence there is no need for Muslim minorities to reapply,” an excerpt from the statement reads.
According to Minorities Welfare department Secretary Syed Omer Jaleel, the financial assistance scheme is available to all minority communities. “This is for Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, and Parsis. There are sufficient funds available for disbursal under the relevant head of account,” he said, adding around ₹250 crore is available for the TSMFC on different heads of account.
The TSMFC, over the past few years, accumulated a backlog of over 2.16 lakh applications. While announcements were made, disbursals seldom saw the light of day. The announcement was met with mixed reactions. While TSMFC chairman Mohammed Imtiyaz Ishaq said minorities welcomed the scheme, others, such as senior Congress leader Mohammad Ali Shabbir, expressed apprehensions over disbursal of funds. Activists, on the other hand, sought more clarity on the mode of disbursal.
