Telangana govt releases Rs.500 crore for Dalit Bandhu scheme

Ahead of the formal launch of Telangana Dalit Bandhu scheme by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao at Huzurabad on August 16, the Telangana Scheduled Castes Co-operative Development Corporation Limited (TSCCDCL) released Rs 500 crore to the District Collector of Karimnagar. The Corporation vice-chairman and managing director P Karunakar issued cheques to transfer the amount to the District Collector to this effect.

Following the Cabinet decision recently to implement the Dalit Bandhu scheme in Huzurabad Assembly constituency on a pilot basis, the State government has allocated Rs 1,200 crore to benefit all the eligible SC families in Huzurabad constituency. 

Further, the scheme will be implemented for 100 Dalit families each in the remaining 118 Assembly constituencies on a pilot basis. Based on its success and after weighing the pros and cons, it will be implemented for the remaining SC families in a



phased manner.

Sources said the Chief Minister is likely to formally launch the scheme at Shalapalli of Huzurabad mandal where the most successful Rythu Bandhu scheme was launched in 2018. It may be recalled that he had already flagged off the scheme in Vasalamarri, his adopted village in Yadadri Bhongir district on August 4 and also released Rs 10 lakh each to 76 eligible Dalit families in the village.

The Dalit Bandhu scheme aims to encourage entrepreneurship among members of the community with a direct benefit transfer of Rs 10 lakh per family. The scheme does not envisage any bank linkage process as it would imply a repayment burden falling on beneficiaries. 

As per estimates, there are about 20,929 Dalit families with a population of around 70,000 in the Huzurabad Assembly segment where the scheme will be implemented on a saturation mode.