Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader and Telangana Government Advisor Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Sunday said the Union Budget 2026–27 continued the Centre’s neglect of minorities, despite a sharp rise in overall government spending.
Reacting to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech in Parliament, Shabbir Ali said the Ministry of Minority Affairs received only ₹3,400 crore in the current financial year. He pointed out that the allocation marked an increase of just ₹50 crore over 2025–26, even as the total Union Budget expanded by ₹2.85 lakh crore to ₹53.5 lakh crore.
Describing the rise as “statistically insignificant”, he said the BJP-led Union government failed to prioritise minority welfare. He added that the Centre’s allocation remained lower than what individual States were spending from their own budgets.
Shabbir Ali cited Telangana’s allocation of ₹3,591 crore for minority welfare in 2025–26. He also referred to Karnataka, which allocated over ₹4,000 crore through multiple welfare schemes. According to him, these figures exposed the Centre’s lack of commitment to inclusive development.
He further compared the present figures with allocations made during the UPA regime. In 2013–14, the Union government earmarked ₹3,531 crore for minority welfare from a total Budget of ₹16.65 lakh crore. “Today, the Budget stands at ₹53.5 lakh crore, but the minority allocation has dropped to ₹3,400 crore. This reflects regression, not stagnation,” he said.
Minority budget allocation ignores Telangana’s key demands
The Congress leader said the minority budget allocation also reflected a broader neglect of Telangana’s priorities in the Union Budget. He stated that the Centre ignored funding requests for Hyderabad Metro Phase-II, the Regional Ring Road and the Musi River rejuvenation project.
Shabbir Ali said the Budget also failed to address pending commitments under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. He added that the Centre did not respond to Telangana’s demand for increasing vertical tax devolution from 41% to 50%.
According to him, the Union government also refused to relax fiscal deficit limits or convert State loans into grants. He said these steps were essential to support Telangana’s development needs.
The Congress leader further highlighted stagnation and cuts in education-linked welfare schemes. He said scholarships, fellowships and employment programmes meant for minority youth faced the maximum impact.
Shabbir Ali added that the Budget missed an opportunity to address structural inequalities. He said inclusive growth required proportional allocations, especially when overall government spending continued to rise.
