GUNTUR : Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for State Christian Bhavan at Adavi Thakkellapadu village on the outskirts of Guntur city on Wednesday.
The Christian Bhavan with a built up area of 75,000 square feet will be constructed within a year at an estimated cost of Rs. 10 crore in an area of two acre land. It will have a prayer hall, conference and seminar halls.
Speaking on the occasion, Naidu asserted that the TDP is a secular party and will respect and protect the sentiments of people of all religions. “Of course, some individuals for their selfish motives are encouraging communal clashes, which will create unrest in the society and we all should be aware of such incidents,” he said.
Maintaining that the TDP is committed to its slogan of eradication of poverty, he said that despite financial crunch, the state government was focusing on welfare schemes for benefiting the poor and down trodden as well as minorities and distributing gift packs during the festivals like Sankranthi, Ramzan and Christmas.
Responding to some of the appeals made by Bishop Gali Bali on behalf of the AP State Federation of Churches, the Chief Minister assured to form a cabinet sub-committee to look after the Christian assets and also support their demand of providing SC status to converted Christians as maintained in the TDP election manifesto.
Assuring to provide Rs. 20,000 each to those Christians going to Jerusalem pilgrimage, he also announced to take care of the development of Christian burial grounds in the next budget.
Source : New Indian Express
