TS govt committed to welfare of BCs, says Harish Rao
“We are taking measures to support BCs in education and occupations,” he said while presenting the Budget in the State Assembly here on Wednesday
Hyderabad: Empowering the lives of Backward Classes (BCs) is the top priority of Telangana government, said Finance Minister T Harish Rao. “We are taking measures to support BCs in education and occupations,” he said while presenting the Budget in the State Assembly here on Wednesday.
“Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phule said ‘Lack of education led to oppression of lower castes’. Without education there is no economic development. When there is no financial improvement, naturally the BCs face oppression in the society. To provide quality education to BC students as per the global requirements, the government has established Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phule’s BC residential schools in a large scale,” Harish said.
There were 19 BC residential schools in 2014 in with 7,580 student strengths and Rs 44 crore were spent on these residential schools. But after formation of Telangana government, the BC residential schools were increased to 281. Books, uniforms and other facilities were provided free of cost. Presently, 1,13,280 students are studying in these schools. For the maintenance of these schools, government has allocated Rs 545 crore in 2021.
The State government has increased BC residential schools funds 10 times. For BC students, the government is providing special hostels, pre-metric, post-metric scholarships, establishment of women’s residential degree college and providing quality education to them. For the purpose of pursuing overseas education by BC students, an amount of Rs 20 lakh each is being provided in the name of Mahatama Jyothi Rao Phule overseas scholarship scheme.
So far, an amount of Rs 178.52 crore has been sanctioned to 1,082 BC students. In the next two years, it has been decided to provide financial assistance to Nayee brahmins for establishing modernised saloons. The government has decided to construct modernised dhobi ghats to washermen.
Welfare of Toddy tappers
Since the government brought Neera policy for welfare of toddy tappers, an amount of Rs 25 crore was proposed in the Budget, Harish Rao said. As a part of Haritha Haram programme, the palymra and palm trees plantations are also taken up. For accidental deaths, the government is extending Rs 6 lakh ex-gratia to the families of toddy tappers.
Sheep distribution
To achieve self-sufficiency in meat production, and enhance living standards of Golla Kurmalu, the State government has taken up sheep distribution in a large scale. It distributed 77,02,737 sheep among 3,66,797 beneficiaries across the State at a cost of Rs 4,584 crore. It also provided insurance facility to these sheep.
An additional Rs 1.20 crore sheep were produced from the sheep that were distributed. With these, Rs 5,400 crore worth of wealth was accumulated to Golla Kurmalu in the State. In the coming financial year, the government decided to provide another three lakh units with a cost of Rs 3,000 crore to Golla Kurmalu.
Welfare of fishermen
With the success of both Kaleshwarm and Mission Kakatiya projects, water bodies in the State are filled with water. They turned into best sources for fisci culture. The State government is releasing huge number of fish seedlings and shrimp into the reservoirs and ponds. An opportunity has been given to the fishermen themselves to catch these fish and sell it in the market resulting in increase in income to them. The fish grown in fresh water in Telangana has high demand in the market.
The fishing industry is contributing 0.5 per cent to the State GDP. At the time of formation of State, 2,49,633 tonnes of fish was produced, which was worth Rs 2,479 crore. The government has released 268.37 crore of fish seedling and 11.64 crore of shrimp into 18,335 reservoirs. As a result, in one year’s time, fish production has increased substantially to 3,10,000 tonnes. The value of fish that is being produced in the State today is around Rs 4,670 crore. An additional income of 88 per cent is added as compared to 2014.
Also read:
Telangana Budget: Rs 33.6k crore for SC, ST welfare
Telangana Budget: Rs 33.6k crore for SC, ST welfare
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