The Telangana government on Monday, August 23, released another Rs 500 crore for the Huzurabad constituency in Karimnagar district, where the Dalita Bandhu scheme is being implemented as a pilot project. With this, a total of Rs 1,000 crore has been earmarked for the flagship scheme aimed at empowering the Dalit community. Under this scheme, every beneficiary Dalit family will get Rs 10 lakh as a financial grant, and will be free to choose to use the funds for any profession, self-employment, or business. The scheme was launched in Huzurabad on August 16 by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao amidst severe criticism from the opposition as the scheme was launched in Huzurabad ahead of the impending bye-election in the constituency.
The Chief Minister’s Office said that the government will release another Rs 1,000 crore within a week. At the launch of the scheme, Chief Minister KCR had announced that the government will disburse over Rs 2,000 crore to 21,000 Dalit families in Huzurabad. He had also said that all the Scheduled Caste families would be considered as beneficiaries of the scheme without any scrutiny. The Chief Minister had promised that all the 17 lakh Dalit families in the state will be benefitted through the scheme.
According to KCR, if the scheme is implemented for all Dalits, it will cost Rs 1.7 lakh crore to the state exchequer. The CM said that the government will allocate Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore in the Budget every year for three to four years towards the scheme. “We will implement Dalita Bandhu on the lines of Rythu Bandhu under which investment support is being provided to every farmer without any exception,” KCR had said.
Huzurabad will be going for a bye-election following the resignation of former Health Minister Eatala Rajender as the legislator. Eatala had resigned in May from both the TRS party and as the MLA after his fallout with KCR. Responding to the criticism of the opposition, the Chief Minister claimed that he had decided to launch the scheme last year itself. However, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had said.