Dalit Bandhu clocks five years: Congress yet to fulfil promise of Rs.12 lakh assistance

Dalit Bandhu beneficiaries in Telangana are disappointed over the Congress government’s failure to fulfil its promise of increasing financial assistance from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 12 lakh. The previous BRS government scheme helped several beneficiaries establish income-generating ventures.

Hyderabad: When the Dalit Bandhu scheme was launched in August 2021, it brought about a significant change in the lives of Dalits and strengthened their confidence and self-respect. Besides providing welfare support, the scheme helped beneficiaries develop entrepreneurship skills and establish income-generating activities.

Several beneficiaries, particularly women, made good use of the financial assistance and scripted success stories. Ragula Sagar and Nerella Shekhar, two beneficiaries from Rajanna Sircilla, joined hands and purchased a bus to operate on hire with the RTC.
However, after the Congress government came to power in 2023, the community has been deprived of similar support, leaving many beneficiaries disappointed.

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The Congress had promised to increase the assistance from Rs.10 lakh under Dalit Bandhu to Rs.12 lakh. However, even after two and a half years, the Congress government is yet to fulfil the promise, leaving the Dalit community disappointed.

The previous BRS government launched Dalit Bandhu on August 16, 2021, to provide SC households with a grant of Rs.10 lakh each without any bank loan linkage. The assistance was intended to help beneficiaries establish suitable income-generating activities.

Many beneficiaries used the assistance to purchase tractors, harvesting machines and trolley trucks. A few women also established rice mills in partnership.

For 2021-22, Rs.4,441 crore was provided for the scheme, of which Rs.4,150 crore was distributed to districts to cover nearly 38,323 identified SC households. For 2022-23, the estimated cost of implementing the scheme was Rs.17,700 crore, with a target of 1,500 beneficiaries per Assembly constituency.

The government had also established the Dalit Rakshana Nidhi, a corpus fund, with a contribution of Rs.10,000 from each beneficiary. The objective was to provide financial protection to beneficiary families in the event of an unfortunate incident.

The fund was intended to ensure that families of Dalit Bandhu beneficiaries did not face financial hardship in such circumstances.

In its manifesto, the Congress had promised to implement Ambedkar Abhaya Hastham. The scheme was aimed at providing financial assistance of Rs.12 lakh per SC and ST family over five years from 2023-24, with requisite budget allocations every year. However, the assurances have remained on paper.

The Congress had also promised 18 per cent reservation for SCs and 12 per cent reservation for STs in government procurement and public works contracts.