Telangana Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, along with BC Welfare and Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar and Chief Advisor to the government Rajiv Sharma, today instructed the state's Collectors to distribute 25kgs of fine rice and aid of Rs 2,000 per month to all the teaching and non-teaching staff working in recognised private schools. Efforts to identify the beneficiaries are already underway.
Speaking at the meeting, Sabitha Indra Reddy said, "Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has decided to extend this help to the employees of private schools on humanitarian grounds. The scheme will benefit an estimated 1.45 lakh teaching and non-teaching staff of the recognised private schools in Telangana. We will continue to provide this support till the schools in the state reopen."
She thanked the CM for the humanitarian gesture, and asked the Collectors to immediately use the database available with the education department to identify the beneficiaries.
"Take utmost care to identify the employees eligible to receive help under the scheme, and ensure that no employee is left out. The education department will send a link to all the district administrations through which the data regarding the employees will be uploaded between April 10 and 15. Scrutiny and grievance redressal will be done from April 16 to 19. The aid amount of Rs 2,000 will be deposited directly into each beneficiary's bank account between April 20 and 24. The rice will also be distributed through fair price shops later this month," the minister added.
Minister Gangula Kamalakar informed the Collectors that sufficient stocks of rice were available at all the Mandal Level Stock Points, and that the rice distributed to the schools two months ago during
the reopening could also be used for the scheme.
"Work out a system for those beneficiaries who do not have a ration card so as to ensure that no genuine beneficiary is prevented from availing themselves of the benefits of this program," he added.
Special Chief Secretary Chitra Ramachandran, Principal Secretaries K Ramakrishna Rao, Arvind Kumar and Vikas Raj, Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Syed Ali Murtuza Rizvi, Secretary (Panchayat Raj) Sandeep Sultania, Secretary (Scheduled Castes Development) Rahul Bojja and other officials attended the video conference.
The scheme is being implemented at a monthly cost of Rs 42.57 crore, about Rs 29 crore of which will be spent on providing the cash incentive. Rs 13.57 crore will be spent on the procurement and distribution of about 3,625 tonnes of rice to the beneficiaries.