Dalit Bandhu was one of the flagships of the Telangana state budget that was presented by Finance Minister P Harish Rao on March 7. The scheme is currently being applied in Chintakani Mandal as a pilot scheme before it is rolled out statewide.
However, it may seem that out of the 5,102 Dalit families present in Chintakani Mandal, only 2,000 families would be eligible for the scheme.
Sources quoted by Deccan chronicle say that after the first round of surveys the number came down from 5,102 to 4,719. According to them, the figure will further fall down to 2,000 after applying more filtration.
The Telangana state government has allocated Rs 17,700 crore and all Dalit families are eligible for it. But officials are categorising the families in certain parameters.
Firstly, those who have crossed 60 years of age and are getting an old-age pension are not eligible for the scheme.
Secondly, families who have a house with its address in the Aadhar card but are not residing in the village for one or two years are not included.
It appears that a lot of cropping is occurring by adding many filtrations including ownership of lands and pucca buildings. Only a few 2,000 families will be eligible for the Dalit Bandhu welfare scheme in the Chintakani Mandal that has 26 gram panchayats.
