Congress slams Telangana CM, calls 'Dalit Bandhu' scheme a drama to attract SC voters

Congress on Tuesday slammed Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao over the treatment of Dalits in the state. The party said that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government was toying around with the schemes and demanded the issue of bonds to Dalits promising to disburse 'Dalit Bandhu' scheme funds within a specific time frame. The opposition also alleged that only Rs 7 crore was disbursed of the allocated Rs 2,400 crore by the government.

AICC spokesperson Dr Dasoju Sravan alleged that CM KCR has been enacting new ‘drama’ in the name of the scheme to attract Scheduled Castes (SCs) voters. Speaking at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, Sravan further added that the government must come up with a complete guideline for the implementation of the 'Dalit Bandhu' scheme. He demanded KCR to bring out an institutional framework and counselling mechanism for handholding and mentoring Dalits through the scheme.

"We have seen CM KCR making U-turns on several promises either it is in distributing three-acre land to Dalits or KG to PG free education, double bedroom homes, disbursing loans to SCs and STs. KCR has betrayed Dalits at every step,” Dasoju Sravan told ANI. “He (KCR) said that the Dalit Bandhu scheme will be implemented for all the 17 lakh SCs families in the state. If he is really sincere, details of all these prospective beneficiaries should be uploaded on a website and status of funds disbursed should be displayed. CM KCR should also issue bonds to all the prospective beneficiaries promising to disburse funds within a specific time frame," the Congress spokesperson added.

Treatment of the MBCs is extremely painful: Congress spokesperson

Further slamming the TRS government, Sravan alleged a shortfall in providing financial help to the citizens as promised by the government. The Congress leader said that KCR set up Most Backward Castes (MBC) Corporation promising to provide Rs 100 crore every year as loans, which the government hasn’t done for the past two years. The Congress spokesperson went on to add that the government’s treatment of the MBCs is "extremely painful".

"While about Rs 2,400 crore were allocated, a paltry sum of Rs 7 crore was disbursed. More than 13,000 MBCs applied, just 1,400 beneficiaries were given loans. Dalit Bandhu scheme will see the same fate after Huzurabad bypolls," Sravan said. Earlier, the state government had said that it was committed to the welfare of Dalits while implementing the "Dalit Bandhu" scheme. It had said that the beneficiaries will be receiving Rs 10 lakh from the government with which they can start their own business or start a profession.

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