Fight caste system with capital: KT Rama Rao

 Hyderabad: BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Tuesday said that the Telangana government has devised the Dalit Bandhu scheme as a mechanism to use capital to fight the caste system.

 “It is not just the big ideas that click. There are several opportunities that come from solving daily problems at a scale. It is not wrong to take loans to power an enterprise. Making Dalit Bandhu successful will open up collateral-free loans for others,” Rama Rao said, adding that the grant is meant to be used for creating enterprises.

Speaking at a meeting of entrepreneurs from the SC and ST communities organised by industry body Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Dicci) on Tuesday, Rama Rao said: “Dalit Bandhu is being given as per the resources at hand but we have an intent to extend it to all the eligible.”

On the state’s fiscal position, he said the debt-to-GDP ratio was 25 per cent, well within the FRBM guidelines. “Telangana was among the five states whose debt-to-GDP ratio was the least in the country,” he said.

“The state invested about Rs 70,000 crore in the power sector to offer uninterrupted power supply to domestic, agriculture and industrial users. The state invested about Rs 40,000 crore in improving the drinking water facilities. The investments in irrigation projects has resulted in paddy production going up to 3.5 crore metric tonne  from 68 lakh metric tonne in 2014,” he said.

Speaking at a meeting held by the Telangana Builders’ Association earlier in the day, Rama Rao said: “Karnataka celebrated Diwali in darkness due to power cuts. So, decide if you want current or Congress,” he said.

He said that Naxalism prevailed during the Congress government and it failed to provide water, jobs, and social and economic security, which encouraged a few to join Naxalism.

“For Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there are 28 states. And Telangana is one amongst them. But for the BRS, Telangana is the only state. They want to win in Telangana but we want Telangana to win,” he said.

He said land values in Hyderabad and across Telangana have increased manifold on the back of a multitude of projects being taken up by the government. New development will happen between Outer Ring Road and the new 330-km Regional Ring Road, which will cover Bhongir, Choutuppal, Shadnagar, Sangareddy, and other areas.