14 October 2022
NCC Delegation Meets Telangana State Minorities Welfare Minister Shri. Koppula Eshwar
National Christian Council leaders met with Telangana Minorities Welfare Minister Shri Koppula Eshwar and presented him with the pertinent needs of Christian Community in Telangana. Honorarium to Pastors in Telangana was requested. The Honourable Minister replied to say that it is not easy to identify Pastors and so we have not introduced the scheme in the state. NCC will submit a detailed preforma of identification process, application and all modalities followed by the other State Governments that are implementing this scheme so that the Minister could take it up to either use the same rules or to adapt them further for Telangana State and arrange to help the needy Pastors with a monthly honorarium.
Secondly, the delegation pointed out about the long pending Christian Bhavan. The Minister took a lot of time to explain that the allotted land came into court dispute and that recently the ministry had several rounds of meetings including with the Minorities Commissioner Mrs. Kranthi Wesley and within 10 to 15 days a site will be identified for the Christian Bhavan and soon the construction will start. He assured that this will be a reality and that the community should not have apprehensions about this as the Honorable Chief Minister himself has proposed this Christian Bhavan and the long delay of three years will be forgotten as the new site will be identified and construction starts with the existing plans that are already prepared and ready.
Thirdly Jerusalem Pilgrimage Tour Sponsorship: The delegation requested that eminent lawyers / legal luminaries are to be hired by the government that can solve the legal litigation soon and that the Jerusalem tours can be restarted. If need be the Council volunteered to suggest good lawyers for this purpose.
The delegation included: NCC Founder President The Rt. Rev. Dr. Sam Paul, National Vice President Mrs. Brighty Beulah, Telangana State Working President Dr. K. Babu Rao, Telangana State Core Committee Chairman Rev. K.S. Prakash Rao.
A copy of the submission presented to the Minister can be seen here: www.nationalcouncil.in/states/ts/mmw/keshwar14oct22.pdf The Minister instructed the peshi officials to forward our submission to the Honourable Chief Minister.
