Telangana government announces Rs 10 lakh for every Dalit family in state

Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, August 17

Telangana has taken the lead by announcing welfare for the Dalits that could improve the lot of those belonging to this stratum of society by announcing a Rs 10 for every Dalit family in the State.

Called the Telangana Dalit Bandhu scheme, the scheme has been described by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) as “not merely an initiative aimed at Dalit empowerment, but a movement that should sweep the entire country for the betterment of the down-trodden communities”.

Under Dalit Bandhu, every Dalit family in the State would be given Rs 10 lakh to start a business venture of their choice, without any bank linkages or facing the stress of having to return the money.

The Rs 10 lakh that would be deposited directly into the accounts of Dalit families will serve as capital to start a business, with the end goal being the economic empowerment of the entire SC community.

KCR announced the scheme at Shalapalli on the outskirts of Huzurabad, ahead of the yet to be announced Huzurabad by-poll. The constituency had fallen vacant after former state Health Minister Etela Rajender resigned from the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party after he was stripped of his portfolio. He has since joined the BJP, and winning the by-poll has become a matter of prestige for both Etela and KCR.

Telangana has a sizeable Dalit population, and according to the 2011 census, Dalits constitute 15.44 per cent of the people in State and STs 9.34 per cent. In Seemandhra, the Dalits account for 17.10 per cent and have a considerable influence on Telangana politics.

Launching the scheme, KCR said, “Dalit Bandhu will bring about a qualitative change in the lives of SCs in the next four to five years. Though the scheme was planned for launch more than a year ago, it was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We will implement the scheme on the lines of Rythu Bandhu”.

The entire SC population in the State, government employees included, will be eligible to avail the benefits of the scheme just as they are benefitting from the Rythu Bandhu programme for farmers.

The scheme was being implemented as a pilot project in the Huzarabad Assembly constituency, where Rs 500 crore has already been released for its implementation. Another Rs 2,000 crore would be released soon to cover more than 21,000 Dalit families in the constituency within the next two months.

The chief minister said his detractors had always raised doubts over all his initiatives ranging from the Telangana movement to free power and Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme to Mission Bhagiratha. But all these had greatly benefitted the people of the State.