HYDERABAD: The TRS government’s Dalit Bandhu appears to have opened a Pandora’s box with organisations and intellectuals demanding a similar scheme for Backward Classes (BCs). The BC organisations have now joined opposition parties to demand the government launch BC Bandhu.
Sources said some BC ministers and MLAs had conveyed the message to chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao that BC organizations’ demands was increasing by day and the government has to do something on this. National BC Welfare Association held a state-wide agitation ‘Dharmaporta Deeksha’ at 400 centres on Tuesday.
Succumbing to pressure, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao has announced during the party state executive meeting on Tuesday that the government would also come up with Bandhu scheme for BCs and other economically weaker sections of the upper castes in a phased manner.
“The CM should start implementing BC Bandhu before Huzurabad by-poll. The TRS government has not released funds for BC corporation and 12 federations in the past few years,” National BC Welfare Association president and former MLA R Krishnaiah told TOI.
“KCR claims Telangana is the richest state in the country. The government can spend ₹5 lakh crore on the poor among BCs,” he added.
Former Telangana BC Commission chairman BS Ramulu said there were 2.2 crore BCs in the state. At least 25% of them, especially BC castes in A group, need direct benefit transfer scheme like Dalit Bandhu. “We are not against Dalit Bandhu, but want it for BCs too,” he told TOI.
The state government has been implementing schemes like sheep distribution for Golla Kurmas, washing machine for the washermen community, free power to saloons run by Nayee Brahmins, fish distribution for Mudirajs and proposed moped distribution for toddy tappers.
“The government has been spending about ₹10,000 crore for various schemes for BCs every year. Just for sheep distribution alone about ₹6,000 crore has been released now. It appears the BC leaders are getting carried away by false propaganda of the opposition parties,” a BC minister said.
