Hyderabad: Dalit Bandhu, which is going to be launched on August 16 on a pilot basis in the Huzurabad assembly constituency, will benefit over 12 lakh families in the state, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Monday.
Addressing the public in the Nagarjunasagar Assembly constituency, KCR said that ten lakh financial assistance will be transferred to each scheduled-caste(SC) family in the constituency.
The chief minister said there were 16 lakh to 17 lakh SC families in the state and of these, around 12 lakh to 13 lakh SC families would benefit under the scheme in phases.
KCR said some amount will be allocated each year in the budget to Dalit Bandhu to make them financially self-sufficient and enable independent decision-making. Dalit Bandhu is the latest flagship programme of the Telangana government. It was first announced in the state budget earlier this year.
The Telangana government has already sanctioned Rs 2,000 crore for this scheme. A total of Rs. Rs 500 crore has already been issued and the scheme will be launched in phases in other regions.
On August 1, the Telangana government decided to set up a special mechanism including setting up a Dalit foundation center in each district to promote entrepreneurs among Dalit communities under the proposed Dalit Bandhu scheme.
Chief minister has asked state secretary to finance K Ramakrishna Rao to set up a team to monitor the implementation of the scheme at ground level.
Further, he also alleged that the central government adopted an “anti-Telangana stand” on sharing of river waters.
“You know that the Centre adopted an anti-Telangana stand. AP has been constructing irrigation projects illegally on the Krishna river.” Rao termed AP’s attitude as “Dadagiri”, Telangana Today quoted KCR as saying.
He said he would divert Godavari water from Baler to Bida Divola Bali in Nagarjuna Sagar to meet the irrigation requirements of Nagarjuna Sagar ayacut, which is in the Krishna River Basin.
Reacting for the first time after the ministry of Jal Shakti issued a notice in the Official Gazette on July 15 to introduce 107 irrigation projects under the jurisdiction of the river management boards, the chief minister assured that the state government will take all measures to ensure that farmers do not face any problems due to the water shortage of Krishna River in the future.
However, he announced Rs.150 crore for the development of the assembly constituency and also allotted Rs.15 crore each for the development of Nandikonda and Haliya. On this occasion, he showered many gifts for the people of the Nagarjuna Sagar constituency.