The state government has decided to ground the Dalith Bandhu scheme all over the state by March 7. It has set aside a budget of Rs 3,449.40 crore for this financial year, said SC welfare minister Mr Koppula Eswar.
Participating in a video conference with district collectors, he said 100 beneficiaries in each of the 118 constituencies should be identified by February 5 and the scheme should be grounded by March 7. The scheme was already grounded in Huzurabad constituency earlier.
The state government would allocate Rs 25,000 crore in the next budget for the scheme.
As part of the pilot project in Chintakani, Timulagiri, Charugonda, and Nizamsagar mandals, the state government allocated Rs 250 crore and Rs 7.60 crore to Vasalamarri village.
Rs 10,000 from the beneficiary would be deducted to set up Dalith Bandhu Protection fund.
Describing the scheme as only one of its kind in the country, R&B minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy said the respective MLAs of the constituencies will have a say in the selection of beneficiaries.
Under the scheme, each beneficiary will get financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh and he or she is supposed to start an enterprise of their own. Thus, it is expected to support the family and improve economically.
In a phased manner, all the SC community members will get the benefit in Telangana state.
By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao