Telangana Government is implementing the landmark Dalit Bandhu and T-PRIDE (Telangana State Programme for Rapid Incubation of Dalit Entrepreneurs) with a missionary zeal to espouse the ideals of B.R. Ambedkar, chief architect of the Indian Constitution, who championed the cause of downtrodden sections and egalitarian society, said Municipal Administration and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao.
Mr. Rao participated in a series of programmes held in connection with the 131 st birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar in Rajanna Sircilla district on Thursday.
He inaugurated Ambedkar Bhavan built at a cost of ₹2.5 crore, renovated State-run separate hostels for SC Boys and Girls and distributed cheques to 119 beneficiaries of the Dalit Bandhu scheme in the district headquarters town.
Speaking at a meeting held at Ambedkar centre in the textile town, Mr. Rama Rao said the Telangana government is striving to financially empower Dalits and make them entrepreneurs by drawing inspiration from Babasaheb Ambedkar’s vision of empowerment. “Never in the history of the country such a landmark scheme for Dalits was implemented so far,” he said referring to the Dalit Bandhu scheme.
A whopping ₹17,700 crore is being spent in a single year for financial empowerment of Dalits under the scheme, he remarked, adding that around 40,000 Dalits were already covered under the scheme and plans were afoot to extend the scheme to another 2 lakh Dalits this year.
An amount of ₹200 crore subsidy was disbursed as an incentive among the eligible beneficiaries under the T-PRIDE incentive scheme in Hyderabad, he said, adding that a giant 125-foot statue of Ambedkar will be installed in Hyderabad by this year-end.
Launching a fresh salvo at the BJP-led Central government, he charged people at the helm with ‘undermining’ constitutional bodies and ‘misusing’ them to target political opponents.
“The need of the hour is to raise in unison against such attempts to subvert the Constitution,” he said.
