Dalit Bandhu aims at bringing light in lives of SCs: Errabelli Dayakar Rao

Jangaon: Dalit Bandhu, the flagship programme of the Telangana Government, is a huge opportunity for the distressed sections, Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Errabelli Dayakar Rao said.

Speaking at a meeting at Palakurthi on Thursday, he said that Dalit Bandhu scheme which provides Rs 10 lakh financial assistance to each beneficiary of the scheduled castes (SCs) is a game changer.

He said that the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao wants all the eligible Dalit families will be brought under the ambit of Dalit Bandhu scheme. As many as 17 lakh Dalit families will be covered under the scheme in the next two years, he added. The CM has decided to allocate Rs 20,000 crore for the Dalit Bandhu scheme in the next budget, Errabelli said.

"The onus is on beneficiaries to choose a right unit that benefit them. The beneficiaries can contact the officials before finalising their units. The officials are ready to sensitise the beneficiaries about the units and their viability," Errabelli said.

The scheme will be beacon to the other States in the country, he said. In another programme, the minister said that earlier the District Central Cooperative Bank (DCCB) was mired in corruption and it started to work efficiently under the stewardship of its chairman Marneni Ravinder Rao and deputy chairman Venkateshwar Reddy.

He distributed loans extended by the DCCB to the entrepreneurs belonging to Palakurthi mandal. Elsewhere, the minister who distributed clothes to girl students at Velugu School in Palakurthi emphasised the importance of women education. "Educated woman brings positive changes in her family as well as in society. Educating and empowering women can help to build a progressive family, society and nation," Errabelli said.