Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu directed the officials to formulate programmes to provide financial security to the Dalit communities. On Tuesday, the CM held a review of the Social Welfare Department in the Secretariat at Velagapudi in Amaravati. On this occasion, the CM inquired about the performance of the department and the implementation of various schemes for the Dalits.
The CM said that during the tenure of the Telugu Desam government between 2014 and 2019, thousands of Dalit families have benefited from schemes like Ambedkar Overseas Vidyanidhi, NTR Vidyonnathi Scheme for Civil Services Training and Chandranna Pellikanuka and the succeeding YSRC government had cancelled these
schemes.
The officials brought to the notice of the CM that while 83 per cent of the funds allocated to the social welfare department were spent during the Telugu Desam government, only 67 per cent of the funds were spent in the YSRC government. Responding to this information, CM Naidu emphasized that the government needs to support the people, who have been facing daily hardships, by designing necessary programmes to lift them out of poverty. The CM said a difference could be made in their lives by providing better education and employment opportunities. Minister for Social Welfare Dola Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy and the department officials participated in the meeting.