Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao recently stated that his government was ready to spend as much as Rs 80,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore on the welfare of the Dalit community.
Speaking to the Dalit leaders of Huzurabad at the Pragathi Bhavan, he claimed that the state government would support all those who only had their "hands and feet as their own property", and claimed that the implementation of the Dalit Bandhu scheme was among the government's top priorities.
"The Dalit Bandhu Scheme, the pilot phase of which will be launched in the Huzurabad constituency, will soon become a model that the other states of the country will want to replicate. It will free Dalits all over the country from economic and social discrimination. I urge all the Dalit leaders, intellectuals, and associations to work with the government to make the scheme a success in Telangana," the CM added.
The Dalit representatives had called on him this Saturday to thank him for
appointing TRS leader Banda Srinivas to the post of Chairman of the Telangana State Corporation for Scheduled Castes. On the occasion, the CM felicitated Srinivas with a shawl.
He then urged every Dalit person in the state to work towards the success of the scheme, and asserted, "The illumination that will come with the success of the scheme to Huzurabad should spread not only across Telangana but across India as well. The cause of Dalit development should be taken up in the same way as the Telangana agitation was."
Elaborating on the matter, the leader noted, "At the start of the statehood movement, many said that we would not succeed. But, we persevered and achieved statehood. Once Telangana was created, people began to say that a 24-hour power supply system would not become a reality. Here, too, we proved them wrong. When we took up mega irrigation projects like the one at Kaleswaram, there were some who said that the projects would not work. Again, we succeeded. In fact agriculture, which was considered an unprofitable profession, became profitable with the Rythu Bandhu scheme. We have shown skeptics over and over that we can succeed - today our farmers can produce 3 crore tonnes of paddy. So, when people are doubting the effectiveness of the Dalit Bandhu program today, we must once again disprove their doubts. We must be victorious."
"The preceding governments of united Andhra Pradesh came out with schemes that asked for bank guarantees. How can Dalits who toil with their hands provide such papers? To actually strengthen the community, our government has come up with the Dalit Bandhu scheme which is free. We are not giving loans. The aid we are extending does not need to be paid back. All eligible beneficiaries will get the aid amount directly in their bank accounts. The scheme is meant to empower the Dalits and make them self-sufficient. Let us all work together to achieve this," he urged.
After this, the Dalit leaders took a pledge that they would "lay the foundation for the development of the Dalit community" of not only Telangana but of India as well.
Finance Minister T Harish Rao, TSPC Vice Chairman B Vinod Kumar, Rythu Bandhu head Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, former BC Commission member Vakulabharanam Krishna Mohan, Huzurabad ZPTC, councilors, MPTCs, sarpanches, state Dalit associations' leaders, and several Dalit activists participated in the meeting.