The Telangana Congress leaders have accused the TRS Government of completely neglecting the welfare of Dalits in Telangana State.
Addressing a gathering at Gandhi Bhavan on the occasion of birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar here on Tuesday, TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged the State Government was not giving any importance to the growth and development of SCs in the State. He said the Dalits have been facing humiliation and discrimination under the TRS regime. Recalling the steps taken by the previous Congress Government for the welfare of Dalits, he hoped that the golden days would return for the Dalits of Telangana after his party returns to power in the State.
Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir said Dr Ambedkar was in favour of smaller States and based on his ideals, the Congress party turned the 60-year-old dream of Telangana into a reality. He accused Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of openly cheating the Dalits of Telangana. Had KCR honored his promises, Dr Ambedkar’s birth anniversary this year would have been celebrated under a Dalit CM. He also slammed the government for not fulfilling any of the promises that he made with the Dalits. Disclosing statistics, he said only 36% of Rs 7,579.45 crore meant for the SC Sub-Plan for 2014-15 was spent by the State Government. Similarly, only 45% of Rs 2,799 Crore allocated for SC Welfare was released during the financial year.
Shabbir accuses KCR of cheating people
Shabbir Ali said Dr Ambedkar was the leader for all the backward and downtrodden classes and had a vision for their development. Stating that the Congress party had strictly followed his vision, he accused KCR of cheating all sections of the society. He said the TRS Government’s non-serious approach was clearly evident from the amounts it released for Social Welfare in the last financial year. While only 28.76% of funds under ST Sub-Plan were spent, the spending was 75.28% for Tribal Welfare, 76.85% for BC Welfare and just 42.52% of allocated funds were spent on Minorities Welfare. He said KCR did not honor the promise of carrying forward the unused funds in the next financial year.
The Congress leader said that KCR has no respect for weaker sections like the BCs which was proved from the fact that he skipped the Jyotiba Phule birth anniversary celebrations on April 11. He also slammed the TRS Government for not making any representation to the National Commission for Backward Classes during its three-day visit to Hyderabad. He said many BC castes, including 14 castes of Muslims under BC-E, deserve to be included in the Central List. Hundreds of BC students will get admissions into IITs, IIMs, UPSC and other Central institutions if they are included in the Central List. But the TRS Government did not make any representation in that regard. The Chief Minister did not even held a customary meeting at tea with the Chairman and members of National Commission. The State BC Minister, Jogu Ramanna, too did not meet the National BC Commission. He said that only Congress party could turn Dr Ambedkar’s dream of social justice into a reality.
Meanwhile, TPCC Working President Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka announced that Dr Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary celebrations would be celebrated throughout the year. Other senior Congress leaders, including AICC Secretary RC Khuntia, Madhu Yashki Goud, Mallu Ravi and others also addressed the meeting. (NSS)