Telangana CM hosts 'Iftar'

Hyderabad: In the holy month of Ramadan, an ‘Iftar’ party was organized by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao yesterday at Nizam College grounds as part of 'Dawat-e-Iftars' being organized for Muslims across the state.

People of Telangana wanted (a separate) Telangana state and the Almighty bestowed it and now Telangana state is progressing ahead, Rao said. There is a big problem of electricity in Telangana and necessary arrangements have been made in this regard and there will not be any power cuts in Telangana in future, he said.

The 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb' (a term for the peaceful co-existence of the Hindu and Muslim cultures), for which Telangana was known and even referred to by Mahatma Gandhi (during his visit to Hyderabad in 1927), will be brought back in the state, Rao said while extending his greetings to Muslims in the view of the holy month.

Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali were among the dignitaries who were present.

'Dawat-e-Iftars' were organised in 100 mosques in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits here and in one mosque in each of the 95 Assembly constituencies in nine districts in the state.

The state government earlier announced a Rs 26 crore package to coincide with the official Ramadan celebrations that include Rs 4 crore for meeting Iftar expenses, Rs 9.75 crore for distribution of clothes to poor Muslims, payment of honorarium to the tune of Rs 12 crore per annum for Imams and Maozams (those who give call for 'namaz') of mosques across the state.

PTI