Shabbir Ali offers his salary to clear Mecca Masjid staff dues

Hyderabad, Feb 9 (INN): Deputy CLP leader in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Monday offered to pay his two-month pay to clear the salary dues of staff of historic Mecca Masjid and Royal Mosque at Public Gardens.

In a letter to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Shabbir Ali expressed regret that the State Government has completely neglected the affairs of Mecca Masjid and Royal mosque. “While the staff has not been paid salaries for the last three months, the government has not released funds for their maintenance. The staff is on the verge of starvation and their duties at the mosque do not even allow them to raise their voice of protest or go on strike. They are silently facing all the difficulties and performing their duties without fail with complete dedication,” he alleged.

Similarly, he said that the non-release of funds for maintenance has deteriorated the conditions at the mosques. The management is unable to perform basis tasks due to lack of funds.

Stating that eight out of 24 posts in Mecca Masjid were lying vacant, Shabbir Ali said that the government did not take any steps to fill the same. Further, 20 Home Guards, who were deputed on security duties for Mecca Masjid, have not been paid salaries for the last two months, he said. The government has also not appointed a new Khateeb of Mecca Masjid and the present Khateeb is performing duties without remuneration. “Besides appointing a new Khateeb, the government should provide monthly pension of Rs 20,000/- to retired Khateeb Moulana Abdullah Qureshi Al-Azhari as he had led the prayers for more than two-and-a-half decades in the historic mosque,” he demanded.

The Congress MLC demanded that the Chief Minister conduct a review meeting and ensure that the salaries are paid on immediate basis. “For some reasons, if the State Government is unable to pay their salaries in the next 10 days, then I request you to pay their salaries by deducting the amount from my salary and allowances, which I get as the Member of the Legislative Council,” offered Shabbir Ali.

He requested the Chief Minister to treat his request as a letter of consent to deduct his two-month salary and allowances to clear the pending dues of Mecca Masjid and Royal Mosque employees, in case his government is unable to pay the same.