Dalit Bandhu, a revolutionary scheme of Telangana: Governor Tamilisai
She said in the history of the country, Dalit Bandhu is the only scheme to be inspired by the efforts of Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar.
Hyderabad: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan termed Dalit Bandhu as a revolutionary scheme launched by the Telangana government to achieve comprehensive development and economic empowerment of the Dalit community. She said in the history of the country, Dalit Bandhu is the only scheme to be inspired by the efforts of Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar.
Addressing the joint meeting of the State Assembly and the Council on Friday, Tamilisai Soundararajan said the State government gave utmost importance to residential education and established more than 1,000 residential educational institutions to provide quality education to the poor. She said with an aim to improve infrastructure in government schools on par with corporate schools, the State government launched ‘Mana Vooru-Mana Badi’ and ‘Mana Basti-Mana Badi’ scheme with an outlay of Rs 7,289 crore to provide basic amenities in 26,065 government schools.
Public Health
The Governor said Telangana was ranked third in the country NITI Aayog in terms of quality healthcare. The State government established T-Diagnostic centres in 20 districts and works are underway in the remaining 13 districts. A total of 104 dialysis centres are currently operational across the State. Apart from four super specialty hospitals in Hyderabad, the State government is constructing a 2,000-bedded super specialty hospital at Warangal with an outlay of Rs 1,100 crore. Another 2,000 beds are being added at NIMS in Hyderabad, she informed.
Further, the State government is setting up a government medical college each in every district, with 12 medical colleges already functioning. Another 16 medical colleges will be established over next two years. She explained about various other initiatives of the State government in the healthcare sector including KCR Kits, Aarogya Lakshmi, Basti Dawakhanas and others which improved healthcare significantly in the State.
“Due to these measures, the institutional deliveries in government hospitals have gone up from 30 per cent in 2014-15 to 61 percent in 2021-22. While the maternal mortality rate has reduced from 92 in 2014-15 to 43 in 2022, the infant mortality rate declined from 39 in 2014-15 to 21 in 2022,” she said.
Welfare sector
The Governor stated that considering significant change in population ratio after the State formation compared to erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, the State government has increased the reservations to 10 percent for STs. Further, she said steps were taken to realise aspirations of tribals for ‘self-governance’ by upgrading 2,471 tribal hamlets into gram panchayats.
To rejuvenate the rural economy, the State government is providing special assistance to rural artisans and other communities who are dependent on traditional occupations. The Governor said with the distribution of 7.3 lakh sheep units with a total outlay of Rs 11,000 crore, Telangana has largest sheep population and is fifth largest meat producer in India. Other initiatives include 15 percent reservations to toddy tappers in wine shops, work orders to weavers, subsidised power supply to salons and dhobi ghats among others.
“The Telangana government has increased the number of BC residential schools from 19 to 310 to ensure quality education for students hailing from backward classes. The government is also constructing 41 community buildings for the welfare of BC communities in Hyderabad which will be inaugurated soon,” she said.
Women and Minorities welfare
The Governor said under Arogya Lakshmi, the State government was providing nutritious food to women through all the Anganwadi Kendras which was appreciated by the NITI Aayog. She stated that Telangana was providing 33 percent reservation for women in the State civil police jobs, apart from improving safety of women through SHE Teams programme which was being replicated by other States.
Under Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak schemes, the State government was has provided Rs 1,00,116 each to over 12 lakh brides towards their wedding expenses. Further, the State government has started 203 minority residential schools and junior colleges to empower the Minorities community through education, she said.
Government jobs
Tamilisai Soundararajan stated that while lot of multi-national companies were cutting down their manpower due to fear of recession, the Telangana government was filling a total 80,039 posts across all the government departments. She said the government has also regularised the services of contract employees. Since 2014-15, the State government took up recruitment to 1,41,735 jobs till February 2022, taking total recruitments to 2,21,774 posts. The Presidential Order was also issued reserving 95 percent of the jobs to the local candidates.
