Hyderabad: Vasalamarri, the adopted village of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao in Yadadri Bhongir district, is all set to become the launchpad for the historic ‘Telangana Dalit Bandhu’ scheme. The Chief Minister has decided to kick-start the scheme from Vasalamarri on Thursday, while the formal launch of the scheme will be held in the Huzurabad Assembly constituency at a later date.
The Chief Minister announced the launch of the scheme from the Rythu Vedika during his interaction with the Dalit families on Wednesday. Accordingly, a total of 76 eligible Dalit families have been identified in the village who will receive Rs 10 lakh each as a single installment under the scheme. The officials were instructed to obtain all the details of the beneficiaries and deposit the financial assistance into their bank accounts by 11 am on Thursday. The implementation of the scheme already got delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.
Chandrashekhar Rao, who toured the Dalit wada of the village for more than three hours, was moved by the plight of the residents. He interacted with them and enquired about their well-being. The residents poured their woes even as the Chief Minister assured to provide all support to the Dalit families and ensure their socio-economic development through the Dalit Bandhu scheme. He asked them if they were aware of the new scheme and prodded them to answer as to what would they do with the financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh. While a few expressed their desire to buy a tractor or an autorickshaw, others shared their plans to set up a dairy farm or poultry.
“It is up to you to plan and spend this money, productively. Beneficiaries should use the scheme to develop and empower themselves. They should work unitedly with brotherly-bonding to strengthen themselves in the society rather than getting carried away with jealousy and anger towards each other,” the Chief Minister said.
He urged them not to waste the opportunity and use the amount to secure their future. The officials will guide the beneficiaries in taking up a profitable venture with prior planning to ensure that the amount is not wasted. About Rs 10,000 from the financial assistance provided to each beneficiary, will be pooled to create a Security Fund to support the beneficiaries in case of an emergency. The State government will release an amount equal to the beneficiaries contribution and deposit the amount into the Security Fund. The Alair Assembly constituency alone will have a Security Fund of Rs 30 crore.
Further, Chandrashekhar Rao said there were about 612 acres of government land in Vasalamarri village of which about 100 acres is surplus land that will be distributed among eligible Dalit families. The officials were instructed to identify illegally occupied government lands and take measures to recover them from the possession of unauthorised persons. Necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the land cannot be encroached.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister made it clear that along with Dalit Bandhu, other government schemes will be implemented effectively benefiting other communities in the village as well. He visited over 60 houses in Dalit wada and interacted with the residents asking them whether they were receiving the benefits of government schemes. The officials were asked to identify eligible persons and ensure that they receive the benefits of schemes like Aasara pensions, double bedroom houses, free power supply for agriculture and others.
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