Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) floor leader in Telangana Assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi on Thursday, March 13, sought honorarium for Imams and muezzins.
Referring to the Congress’ minority declaration, Akbaruddin Owaisi said, “Several promises have been made in the minority declaration. I urge the finance minister to release the remuneration for the Imams and Muezzins since Ramzan is ongoing.”
The Chandrayangutta MLA urged the Telangana government to release the remunerations for Achalikas, pastors and granthis (Sikh preachers), adding that he is aware that the Congress government doesn’t practice religious discrimination.
Honourarium to Imams and Muezzins
In August 2023, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government announced an honorarium of Rs 5,000 per month to nearly 7000 more imams and muezzins across the state. An honorarium is a payment for services for which customs forbid a price to be set. This method of payment is usually made as a gesture of goodwill and appreciation.
Considering the demand raised by AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, the then chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao promised to release the order in the Assembly. The government also introduced a scheme under which the payment of honorarium to mosques has been increased from Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 per month.
Additionally, the CEO of the Telangana State Waqf Board requested the state government to cover another 7000 beneficiaries in the honorarium scheme, so as to enable the Waqf board to approve the pending list of applications.
In pursuance of the proposal submitted by the CEO of the Waqf board and the director of minorities welfare department, the state government increased the number of beneficiaries for the honorarium scheme from 9,995 to nearly 17,000.
Imams, Muezzin protest non-payment of honourarium
In December 2024, several imams and muezzins staged a silent protest at the Telangana Haj House over non-payment of honourarium by the Congress government. The honorarium was withheld due to the election code in effect at that time.
