One year on, Rajiv Yuva Vikasam scheme yet to take off in Telangana

More than a year after its launch, the Rajiv Yuva Vikasam scheme in Telangana remains stalled with no clarity on implementation. Despite promises of self-employment support for five lakh youth, the scheme has not progressed beyond initial announcements.

Hyderabad: More than a year after its launch, there is still no clarity on the implementation of the Rajiv Yuva Vikasam scheme announced by the Congress government. The scheme was launched with much fanfare on March 17 last year at the Assembly premises by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. However, it has not moved forward since then.

The government had promised to provide self-employment opportunities to five lakh unemployed youth with an outlay of Rs.6,000 crore. Financial assistance was to be offered in four categories, ranging from Rs.50,000 to Rs.4 lakh per beneficiary. The scheme aimed to support 4,000 to 5,000 beneficiaries in each Assembly constituency. In response, around 16 lakh applications were submitted by eligible youth.

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Sources said that nearly five lakh beneficiaries were shortlisted, mostly under the category requiring loans below Rs.1 lakh. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka had earlier announced that sanction letters would be distributed between June 2 and 9 last year. Training programmes were planned from June 10 to 15, followed by the grounding of projects from June 15.

Despite these announcements, there has been no official update on the scheme’s rollout or execution. The scheme was intended to benefit youth from SC, ST, BC and minority communities by promoting self-employment. The government had also set a target of processing 1.5 lakh applications in the last financial year. However, the scheme did not take off.

For the current financial year, Rs.1,750 crore has been allocated to the BC department for the scheme. Of this, Rs.50 crore has been earmarked for retrofitting autorickshaws under the Core Urban Region Economy (CURE) initiative.

The proposal aims to replace petrol and diesel engines in autorickshaws with lithium-ion battery systems to reduce pollution in urban areas.

Officials say the delay continues due to the lack of a clear policy decision. “The government has to take a call on implementation. So far, we have not received any instructions,” a senior BC Welfare department official said.