Hyderabad: Repairs to the 400-year-old Mecca Masjid, one of the largest mosques in the country, will be completed and the mosque will be fully ready by next Ramzan, Minority Welfare Minister Koppula Eshwar said.
Giving details of the renovation project during Question Hour in the Legislative Council here on Thursday, he said that a Bengaluru-based company which was entrusted with the work of renovation was supposed to complete the work on September 18, 2020, but it had fallen behind the schedule as migrant labourers returned to their home States. “Moreover, the lime used in restoration has to come from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and making of high grade lime is a time consuming process. It takes two months to make two cubic metres of lime,” he said, explaining the reasons for the delay.
He said that the Minority Welfare Department had already transferred Rs 8.48 crore to the Heritage Department for this purpose and there was no dearth of money. “In fact the works were awarded to the contractor who is a specialist in renovation work of heritage buildings in September 2017 and was given 18 months to complete the project. It was supposed be completed by February 22 of 2019. So far, 75 per cent of the work is over. Maqbara Madrasa is complete and the Maqbara phase II is 25 per cent completed,” he said. The Minister said that the government would soon call for a coordination meeting of departments involved in the renovation work and speed up the process.
Govt mulls LTC reforms
Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao, answering a question on Leave Travel Concession (LTC) for government employees and teachers, said that there was no proposal to scrap the scheme but the government was keen on bringing in certain reforms such as payment for travel in cash or allowing group travel. Answering a question of MLC Katepalli Janardhan Reddy, covering for Finance Minister T Harish Rao, the IT Minister said that the government had been allocating more funds for LTC to employees so that they can spend some quality time with their dear ones.
He said that the government had released Rs 125.51 crore during 2014-15, Rs 163.77 crore during 2015-16, Rs 235.38 crore during 2016-17, Rs 235.28 crore during 2017-18, Rs 125.92 crore during 2018-19 and Rs 232.95 crore during 2019-2020.
