Hyderabad: An awareness program regarding the state government’s prestigious Dalit Bandhu scheme with 427 Dalits from Huzurabad began at Pragati Bhavan here on Monday.
A daylong session with selected 427 Dalits, including 15 resource persons, will be chaired by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Four persons, two men and women, were picked up from each village of the assembly constituency. The scheme will be launched on a pilot basis in Huzurabad, as said earlier.
Earlier, the chief minister said that he wishes to free Dalits all over the country from economic and social discrimination and that their empowerment must be taken up as the separate statehood movement of Telangana.
Under Dalit Bandhu, the financial assistance will directly credit into the bank accounts of beneficiaries directly without the involvement of middlemen. The scheme will run in line with Rythu Bandhu, KCR said.
Responding to the criticism, he reminded that there were apprehensions about the implementation of Rythu Bandhu and other initiatives too.
Dalit Bandhu would turn out to be the torch-bearer of steps to liberate SCs from social and economic disparities in the country, he added. KCR also expressed the government’s readiness to spend ₹ 80,000 crore to ₹1 lakh crore on the Dalit Bandhu scheme for eligible SCs.
Besides, in a strong blow to Eatala Rajender, KCR appointed the former health minister’s close aide Banda Srinivas as chairman of State SC Development Corporation.