Relief for Dalit Bandhu beneficiaries as govt decides to unfreeze accounts

The government, which froze Dalit Bandhu bank accounts soon after the Congress came to power in December 2023, issued orders on January 27 to unfreeze the accounts

Karimnagar: Their battle of 14 months is finally yielding results. Dalit Bandhu beneficiaries are all set to receive the financial assistance, which was deposited in their bank accounts by the previous BRS government, with the Congress government deciding to unfreeze the bank accounts.

The State government, which froze Dalit Bandhu bank accounts soon after the Congress came to power in December 2023, issued orders on January 27 to unfreeze the accounts. Though District SC Corporation officials have got the orders from their higher-ups, they were waiting for approval from the District Collector.

---

Besides a vigilance enquiry into the sanctioning and functioning of Dalit Bandhu units, objections were also raised in the Accountant General Audit. However, these issues may not create any hurdles for the continued implementation of the scheme, SC corporation sources said.

In order to bring a comprehensive change in the lives of Dalits, former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao designed the Dalit Bandhu scheme and launched it at Shalapalli-Indiranagar, Huzurabad mandal on August 16, 2021.

Initially, the scheme was implemented in the Huzurabad Assembly constituency on a pilot basis. Later, it was expanded to other parts of the State. It was implemented in an inclusive manner in the Huzurabad segment, wherein a total of 18,021 beneficiaries from different mandals were selected. Around Rs 1784.79 crore was sanctioned to ground 16,149 units.

The amount of Rs 10 lakh was sanctioned to the beneficiaries who had selected big units such as passenger transportation vehicles, supermarkets, tractors, JCBs, DCMs, excavators, minibuses, tipper lorries and others. Meanwhile, as the first instalment, Rs 5 lakh was sanctioned to beneficiaries, who chose small units such as kirana stores, mini supermarkets, welding shops, kangan halls and other units.

The second instalment of Rs 5 lakh was also deposited in the accounts of beneficiaries by the previous BRS government. Though the total amount of Rs 10 lakh was deposited in bank accounts, some beneficiaries had not started their units. Instead of starting units, a few beneficiaries tried to withdraw the interest as well, following which the State government instructed the District Collector to freeze the Dalit Bandhu bank accounts. Based on the government’s instructions, the Collector on December 13, 2023, instructed bankers to put Dalit Bandhu’s accounts on hold.

Since then, the status quo has been maintained on the issue. About Rs 271.60 crore of 8,148 beneficiaries was frozen in different banks. The amount across the State was Rs 324.75 crore of 9,937 beneficiaries across the State. Besides giving representations to the district officials in the Prajavani programme a number of times, beneficiaries also staged protest demonstrations under the leadership of Huzurabad MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy. However, the impasse continued, that is till now.

Speaking to ‘Telangana Today’, SC Corporation Executive Director S Nagarjuna said they had received orders from higher officials to unfreeze bank accounts. They were instructed to release funds to beneficiaries following rules and regulations. Before that, they have to get approval from the Collector. The files were being prepared, he said.