Girija Shankar Shukla / Hyderabad

After a wait of 16 months and a long struggle to get his remuneration, the government of Telangana has released one year’s salary of the Imam of the city’s famous Mecca Masjid.

The issue of non-payment of salaries to the chief cleric of this famous mosque was often raised by the local media as a result the government came under pressure and did the needful.

After the issue being highlighted in the news media, Secretary, Minorities Welfare Ahmed Nadeem sought all the information in this matter and investigated it.

Director of Minority Affairs, Sahnawaz Qasim showed a personal interest in issuing a check for one year's salary amounting to Rs 2,17,338 to the imam from the Maintenance Fund.

Qasim claimed that the file of extension of Imam's service was held up with the Finance Department. From now onwards, orders have been issued to pay Imam's salary from the maintenance fund as it doesn’t require cumbersome office work.

The officials assured that the outstanding salary of Imam would also be released soon.

The Director of Minority Affairs has also asked the Finance Department to quickly do the paperwork for giving an extension of service of Imam for three years.

The employees of the mosque and the devotees has also asked the government to ensure the repair work of the mosque is expedited and is completed before the next Ramazan.