Hyderabad: With the political climate heating up several notches day after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photograph was not displayed at a ration shop, the TRS on Sunday demanded that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre implement the Telangana government's Dalit Bandhu scheme across the country for the social and economic uplift of Dalits.
Welcoming Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao's decision to extend scheme to 1,500 more beneficiaries in each of the 118 Assembly constituencies in the current financial year, minister for SC Castes development Koppula Eshwar, MLA Methuku Anand and MLC L. Ramana said that 32,000 Dalit families were benefitted with the scheme that was launched by the CM in August last year.
Speaking to the media at the TRS Legislature Party (TRSLP) office on the Assembly premises, Eshwar claimed that the government had so far transferred Rs 3,249 crore to beneficiaries' at Rs 10 lakh each, aiding Dalit families in improving their social and economic standing.
Within a year of its implementation, the programme had shown to be a huge success, with many of its beneficiaries having bought tractors, harvesters, cabs, cars, and other items in addition to opening businesses and making decent incomes, they said. "The demand for implementing Dalit Bandhu has been growing in all the states. A group of over 100 farmers, some of whom were Dalits, who recently met the Chief Minister at Pragathi Bhavan visited several districts in the state and were surprised to see the success stories of Dalit Bandhu beneficiaries,” remarked Eshwar.
The group of farmers informed the CM that they will exert further pressure on the state governments of each of their states to implement Dalit Bandhu, he stated. “If BJP government at the Centre is really sincere about the welfare and upliftment of Dalits, it should implement Dalit Bandhu in the entire country," said Eshwar.
The minister stated that Dalit Bandhu will be extended to 1.77 lakh beneficiaries in 2022-23 at the rate of 1,500 beneficiaries in each of the 118 Assembly constituencies. In the first phase, 500 beneficiaries will be selected in each of the constituencies immediately. Explaining the progress of the scheme, Eshwar said that 36,392 beneficiaries have been selected statewide, of which 31,088 units have been grounded so far. In Huzurabad, 18,402 units were grounded, in Vasalamarri 75 units and 4,808 units were grounded in four pilot mandals. Besides, another 10,803 units were grounded in 118 Assembly constituencies, he added.
