HYDERABAD: Congress senior leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir accused the BRS government of betraying the Backward Classes (BCs). He ridiculed the government for celebrating 'Welfare Day' to mark the state formation anniversary; he said the BC groups should instead observe 'Betrayal Day.'
Referring to Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao launching the financial assistance scheme offering Rs. 1 lakh without bank linkage to caste-based professionals from among the BC groups, Shabbir Ali alleged that it was an eyewash, meant to cover up the betrayal of the community. "KCR has become habituated to cheating BCs and is finding new ways to do so," Shabbir Ali said in a media statement on Friday.
The Congress leader highlighted that the BRS government had failed to act on over 9 lakh applications it received from the BCs over the past nine years. He challenged the government to clarify the status of these applications, which were submitted following the prescribed rules and guidelines.
Shabbir Ali also pointed out flaws in the new scheme, noting that the 15-day period for obtaining caste and income certificates and applying online was inadequate. He raised concerns about its transparency, citing a recent government order (GO RT No 764 issued on 06-06-2023), which stated that the district collector would select the beneficiaries, subject to the district incharge minister's approval.
The Congress leader said that the government should have spent nearly Rs. 90,000 crore to provide loans to all nine lakh applicants in the last nine years. Instead, the CM had decided to spend only Rs. 200 crore to provide loans to 20,000 applicants.
"Although Rs. 200 crore is being called the 'first instalment', this will also be the last instalment as Assembly elections are due in six months and notification may be issued at any time. The BRS government is launching this scheme only as an eyewash to cover up its failure to provide loans to nine lakh BCs," he alleged.
Shabbir Ali claimed that the BRS government had consistently let down the unemployed youth and had been disproportionately stingy in its financial assistance to the BCs. Despite presenting budgets totalling nearly Rs. 18 lakh crore over the past nine years, the government had spent only Rs. 2,139 crore to provide loans to BC beneficiaries. This means the BC communities which constitute nearly 54 per cent of the population got only 0.118 per cent share for their welfare scheme in the last nine years, he said.
He pointed out that many MBCs (Most Backward Classes) did not get any significant funds for their welfare. They remained neglected for the last nine years and now the CM was trying to cheat them with a new tactic, he alleged.
