Bengaluru, March 6 Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced a series of education, welfare, and infrastructure initiatives for minority communities in the state, including the establishment of new residential schools, hostels, training centers, and economic empowerment programs.
Presenting the state budget in the Assembly, he said the government would expand educational infrastructure and social support systems for minority students and communities while promoting entrepreneurship and skill development.
The chief minister said the government would increase hostel facilities for students and strengthen existing residential institutions to meet growing demand.
"Twenty-five new post-metric hostels with a strength of 150 each will be started in districts with high demand. The student strength in existing 25 hostels will be increased by 50," he said.
Siddaramaiah announced setting up 10 Saint Shishunala Shariff Residential Schools "with CBSE curriculum" to meet the high demand for Minority Residential Schools. Rs 10 crore is provided for this purpose in the current financial year.
He added 25 new Saint Shishunala Shariff Residential Schools will be started in 2026–27.
Action is being taken to upgrade 117 Maulana Azad Model Schools and Urdu Schools as Karnataka Public Schools at a cost of Rs 600 crore. In the current year, an additional 100 schools will be upgraded under the same model at a cost of Rs 400 crore, he said.
Siddaramaiah said PUC Science and Commerce streams will be started in 25 Morarji Desai Residential Schools.
Commerce stream will be started in 18 APJ Abdul Kalam Residential Schools.
Further, four Residential Schools will be established as Centres of Excellence to provide quality coaching for K-CET, JEE and NEET examinations to selected meritorious PUC students of Minority Residential Schools, Siddaramaiah said.
The chief minister said learning centres and citizen service centres would also be set up to promote continuous learning among communities.
As demand for working women’s hostels is high, four new working women’s hostels with a capacity of 100 will be started in Bengaluru, he said.
The government also earmarked Rs 100 crore for the comprehensive development of Jain, Buddhist and Sikh communities, Siddaramaiah said.
He announced a monthly honorarium of Rs 6,000 to Dhammacharis of the Buddhist community.
Also, 5,000 students will be given Rs 50,000 each to purchase laptops to promote technical and advanced digital education among economically weaker, meritorious minority students, Siddaramaiah said.
The government will provide Fast Food Truck Trailers or Mobile Kitchen Food Kiosks facilities under the Entrepreneurship Development Scheme to unemployed youth among minority communities with a financial assistance of 75 per cent of the unit cost or a maximum subsidy of Rs three lakh, he said.
Minority Women Co-operative Societies will be established to promote self-employment among Women Self-Help Groups belonging to minority communities, the CM said.
Siddaramaiah also announced constructing Haj Bhavans in Hubballi and Kalaburagi to provide necessary facilities and amenities to Haj pilgrims and their relatives.
He said 31 Women PU Colleges under Waqf institutions will be upgraded to Degree Colleges. Further, a new women PU College will be started in Savanur.
The chief minister announced that Waqf properties located in high-demand commercial areas will be developed under Public-Private Partnership model.
The BJP flayed the budgetary provisions for minorities.
"It is the misfortune of the state that the Congress government in Karnataka, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, which has made appeasement politics its ultimate goal, has earmarked a large portion of the state’s treasury merely to preserve its vote bank," the party’s Karnataka unit said in a post on ‘X’.
It also put out the chief minister’s photo in the post along with a crescent moon showing him wearing a skull cap as Muslims wear it. The caption read, "Brother’s budget."