Telangana: More sops lined up for dalits

Hyderabad: The state government, which wants to showcase "first-of-its-kind" popular scheme Dalit Bandhu to empower the SCs, has now come up with more schemes for the SC community.

The State Government proposes to introduce schemes like Dalit Bheema, financial assistance to Dalit families to build houses if they own a piece of land, take up a special drive to resolve their land disputes and improve civic amenities in all SC colonies starting from Huzurabad assembly constituency. This was decided following a day-long interaction Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had with Dalit representatives and resource persons on Monday.

The Bheema scheme would provide insurance cover for the families in case of untimely death of the bread earner of the family. It would help them get financial help up to Rs 5 lakh. KCR asked the State SC Development Department to adopt 3-pronged strategy to implement the Dalit Bandhu scheme. Priority should be given to addressing ownership disputes of lands followed by improvement of civic amenities like laying of roads, potable drinking water supply, housing etc. Every beneficiary would be given an electronic Id card to track the progress in the release of benefits and to promote entrepreneurship among the community.

The Chief Minister also promised to provide reservations for Dalits in the allotment of the government-sponsored businesses like liquor shops, rice mills, medical shops and fertiliser shops among others. He directed the officials to identify other sectors where Dalits could grow economically. By using the financial benefit of Rs 10 lakh per family the Dalits can buy agricultural machinery such as power tillers, harvesters, rice planters, auto-rickshaws, tractor and start poultry business, tent house, dairy industry, oil mill, flour mill, cement and brick industry, building material shops, steel cement, photography and videography business, cell phone shops, mobile tiffin centres, hotels, cloth emporiums and furniture shops.

A security fund would also be established with the participation of the government and the beneficiary. "The fund will be managed by a committee of beneficiaries under the supervision of the respective district collectors. The fund will be utilised to support the beneficiaries during difficult times," said the Chief Minister.