DO NOT sit on funds meant for UP's Muslims, Mayawati tells PM

In an obvious move to woo the minorities ahead of the 2012 state assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has shot off yet another letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to draw his attention to the funds earmarked for the welfare of minorities and Other Backward Classes by the central government.

The letter, dated November 24, was released to the media on Wednesday. It essentially highlights how concerned the UP chief minister is about the well-being of Muslims.

Evidently, the objective was to also discredit the Union government for sitting on the funds meant to improve the lives of millions of the target beneficiaries.

Reportage: Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

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"I have always been committed to the cause of Muslims. In 1995, when I formed my first government, I had ordered reservation in all state government jobs for as many as 38 Muslim castes and sub-castes, under the category of OBCs," Mayawati pointed out in her letter.

"In continuation of the same spirit, I have now set up a new university named after Manyavar Shri Kanshiram ji for promotion of Urdu, Arabic and Persian languages in Lucknow. I have also instituted a scholarship of  Rs 25,000 together with a bicycle to all Muslim girls pursuing the course of Alim (intermediate studies)," she adds.

Mayawati has also sought to draw the prime minister's attention to the long pending issue of recognition of Islamic educational institutions under the category of 'minority' institutions. A bill in this regard was duly approved by the state assembly but is still pending with the central government.

"The central government is also sitting over a grant of Rs 381 crore earmarked for Multi-Sectoral Development Plan against which the state has already released the statutory matching grant of  Rs 97 crore," Mayawati's letter points out.

Referring to yet another provision for Muslims and the most downtrodden among OBCs, she has stated, "As against the central government's assured funding of Rs 5,286 crore for scholarships to Muslim and Most Backward Castes, the state government had received only Rs 346 crore while the remaining grant of Rs 3,372 crore is still held back by the Centre.

In her appeal to Dr Singh, she pleads, "This is to request you to kindly accord due importance to this significant issue of the welfare and upliftment of the minorities in general and Muslim community in particular."