HYDERABAD: By quickly rolling out the Dalit Bandhu scheme, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has not only caught the opposition parties unawares but also put them on the back foot. Sources said the CM intends to grant a hefty allocation of Rs 20,000 crore in the immediate financial year for the scheme.
Sources also said the CM was firm on implementing the scheme by budgeting Rs 20,000 crore on the scheme every year. Presently, investment support for farmers in the form of Rythu Bandhu scheme receives Rs 11,000 crore annually. “At a time when Rythu Bandhu is being implemented successfully with regular funding, we foresee no problem in the implementation of Dalita Bandhu. This scheme will also receive substantial funding and will be implemented all over the state,” official sources said.
Despite the opposition parties’ criticism that the scheme was primarily launched with an eye on the forthcoming Huzurabad by-election, the CM has reiterated that the scheme will be implemented in the entire state and will receive an overall allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore and in excess. “At least 20 Dalit families in each assembly constituency will be covered before the next assembly election,” the sources said.
SC welfare minister Koppula Eshwar told TOI, “The CM is very keen on the scheme. We will implement it at any cost. We are even planning to set up a command control centre to oversee its implementation.”
He further said, “Our plan is to geotag the families with the command control centre and monitor whether the Dalit families are receiving the funds or not.” Under the scheme, each Dalit family gets Rs 10 lakh.
The scheme was supposed to be taken up in Huzurabad first, but the CM sprang a surprise by launching it from his adopted village of Vasalamarri last week. A GO was issued releasing Rs 7.6 crore into the bank accounts of 76 Dalit families in Vasalamarri.
