By Matters India Reporter
Hyderabad, Sept 7, 2020: Revival of grant-in-aid to Christian minority schools, land for cemeteries and stringent action against those attacking Christians are in an eight-point charter of demands that the Telangana State People’s Assembly on September 7 submitted to opposition parties in the southern Indian state.
The assembly that met September 4-7 in the state capital of Hyderabad also demanded that the state government allot necessary budgets to help Christians face problems from Coronavirus pandemic.
More than 3,000 people attended the webinar that heard eminent activists, academicians and legal luminaries address issues of social protection and welfare, rights of vulnerable sections such as minorities, women, transgenders, Aadivasis, Dalits, the disabled and children.
The assembly approved the charter of demands presented by Montfort Brother Varghese Theckanath, director of Montfort Social Institute in Hyderabad.
Brother Theckanath, one of the organizers, told Matters India that a delegation from the assembly presented the charter to the opposition parties so that they can take them up in the state legislative assembly sessions that began September 7.
He said the charter stressed democratic rights and the state’s responsibility.
The assembly has sought property tax exemption to orphanages, homes for aged, schools and shelter homes for the poor and vulnerable run by the Christian Community.
It wants the Telangana government to pass a resolution to repeal the paragraph three of the Presidential Order Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 that denies Christians of Scheduled Castes origin from availing the Scheduled Castes benefits.
The assembly wants the government to rename “The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989” to “Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Caste, Converts of Scheduled Caste Origin and Scheduled Tribes Act” to include Dalit Christians within its ambit.
The gathering urged the government “to nip in the bud the rising fascist tendencies in the state that target religious minorities and women.
The assembly pointed out that the revival of grand-in-aid to Christian schools will help them provide quality education to the poor especially to children coming from Dalit and Adivasi communities.
It noted the community requires land for cemeteries, especially in urban areas where existing burial places have little space.
The webinar decided to launch state level campaign from September 7 to create awareness among state legislators and people on the issues of the different sections and their demands.
Some other resolutions included setting up of a state women’s commission to address their issues, formation of a state welfare board of transgender people and taking urgent steps to protect tribal communities.
The assembly wants the state to conduct a survey to identify unused public lands in urban areas to build houses for the homeless in the state. It also urged the government to set up a commission to monitor schools managed by private agencies to ensure they comply with the provisions of the Right to Education Act.
The assembly pointed out that Christians are the second largest minority community with a population of 447,000 people forming 1.3 percent of state’s the total population.