Dalit Bandhu Was Conceptualised In 1986: KCR

Telangana CM KCR has opened up on ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme which happens to be his brainchild. Ever since it was announced, KCR never spoke about it in depth while oppositions criticised it as a political and poll stunt.

Finally KCR got an opportunity to talk about ‘Dalit Bandhu’ and it happened in Telangana Assembly. “This scheme was conceptualised way back in 1986. Ex-PM Indira Gandhi brought SC Corporation but the fate of Dalits did not change because there were many loopholes in it. They (Dalits) are still lagging behind in every sector and in order to bring a change in their lives, we brought ‘Dalit Bandhu.’ It’s not just for Huzurabad constituency,” said KCR.

Explaining in detail, KCR added that we discussed about bringing a qualitative change in Dalit community and with inputs from experts and Dalit public representatives, we thought that a financial assistance of Rs 10 Lakh would be feasible for a family. This will become an economic unit for that family.

On terms and conditions for the scheme, KCR stated that there are absolutely no restrictions. It’s up to the Dalit families (who get the benefit) to decide what they would want to do with the money. “They can buy a tractor or car or venture into any business. The state government will have no role in it. If the money is helpful for them, a change can be certainly witnessed,” said KCR.

The Telangana CM replied to BJP MLA Raghunandan Rao’s doubt whether this scheme is brought in view of Huzurabad by-poll. “We are a government and it is our responsibility to implement the scheme across the state. Before March next year, Dalit Bandhu will be implemented across 100 constituencies all over Telangana and my government will allocate Rs 20,000 crore for Dalit Bandhu,” stated KCR.

Mocking BJP, KCR said, “We are here to stay for long and we have all our estimations and surveys. We are not running any missions but a political party and so we will continue all the schemes as long as we can.”

But KCR nowhere mentioned about Huzurabad and the by-poll as the scheme was inaugurated here.