CCBI News

The Andhra Pradesh State Christian Minority Finance Corporation (APSCMFC), which is only one of its kind in the country exclusively for the Christians, held its third Advisory Council meeting on January 28, 2011 at Hotel Minerva Grand, Secunderabad. Some of the Bishops and Heads of Churches who are members of the Council and special invitees including priests, Christian officials and retired officers participated in the meeting. Mr J.R. Sudheer, the Managing Director of APSCMFC, presented the report of the activities undertaken by the Corporation.

The on-going developmental programmes of the APSCMFC like the Christian mass marriages for the poor, scholarships and tuition fees for students, self-employment and income generating schemes, coaching for competitive examinations and civil services, and other youth development projects are gaining popularity. The APSCMFC has recently grounded new schemes such as the financial assistance for the construction and equipment of Christian hospitals, schools, orphanages, old age homes, community halls and youth centers. As part of its programme for the promotion of Christian Culture, state sponsored Christmas celebrations were hosted in all the districts in the State by the District Collectors for the first time, besides the Hi-Tea being hosted by the Chief Minister on the eve of Christmas at the state capital for last 15 years.

The legal fight is being waged for the two schemes, subsidy to the pilgrimage to the Holy Land and financial assistance for the construction of churches, which are suspended due to the stay orders of the High Court in the cases filed by the Hindutva elements. The Advisory Council suggested taking legal recourse to obtain grant-in-aid and permanent minority status certificates to the Christian educational institutions. Various schemes available in the department of Sarva Sikhsa Abiyan   (Rajiv Gandhi Vidya Mission), now coming under the purview of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, are to be obtained for Christian schools.

Discussion was held on the formation of inter-denominational committees on burial grounds in municipalities and the felicitation of eminent Christians excelling in different fields. Other matters regarding strengthening the APSCMFC and allotment of land by the Government for developing a state-level Christian Community Center, a resource and research facility, were deliberated upon. A meeting with the Chief Minister was sought to be fixed to continue the dialogue on the pending issues of the Christian Minority. The meeting elicited good participation and called for more involvement from the members of the Advisory Council and other leaders of the Christian community in the State.