Hyderabad, March 24 -- The Chief Minister's State Iftar has sparked debate this Ramzan, drawing criticism from activists, non-governmental organisations, and political activists. Critics of the annual event have described it as wasteful expenditure, even lavish, and urged the Telangana government to redirect the funds towards more pressing needs.

However, several factors must be considered before either criticising or supporting the State Iftar. These include its genesis, budgetary classification or head of account to understand the scheme better, allocation and expenditure trends, changes introduced by the new government, and the existence of similar schemes for other communities.

The scheme was introduced in FY 2015-16 by the Telangan...