Dalit Bandhu benefiited poor: Koppula Eshwar

Karimnagar: Those who worked as labourers and drivers in the past now became owners of vehicles because of Dalit Bandhu, said Welfare Minister Koppula Eshwar. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had introduced the Dalit Bandhu scheme to brighten up the lives of Dalit families and to make them prosper, the Minister said. He along with BC Welfare Minister G Kamalakar and State SC corporation chairman Banda Srinivas distributed Dalit Bandhu units on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, Eshwar said that it was commendable that those who worked as laborers, drivers and cleaners have become employers through the Dalit Bandhu scheme. Dalit families had gained faith in the government through the Dalit Bandhu scheme. The Ministers distributed a total of 63 units, of which 51 were harvesters, 4 JCBs, 6 DCM vans, one tractor and one threshing machine to 146 beneficiaries. Each harvester costs Rs. 22 lakhs, each JCB Rs. 34 lakhs, DCM van Rs. 24 lakhs and a total of 15. 30 crore worth of vehicles were provided to the beneficiaries.

Eashwar hoped that eligible beneficiaries would be able to grow financially by opting for lucrative units for self-employment. He said the Dalit Bandhu was an ongoing process. The government was currently implementing the scheme in four mandal of the district along with Huzurabad constituency.

Kamalakar said that the government was granting units to Dalit families without any investment of a single rupee. The government would implement the scheme across the state next year.

District Collector RV Karnan said Dalits should develop with the units they received. He advised beneficiaries that the whole family should work hard to maintain the units properly so that they would be ideal to others.

Mayor Y Sunil Rao, TRS Gellu Srinivas Yadav, Additional Collector Garima Agarwal, Assistant Collector Mayank Mittal, Karimnagar RDO Anand Kumar, SC Corporation ED Suresh, Deputy Transport Commissioner Chandrasekhar Goud and others were present.