Will form govt at Centre, says KCR after unveiling India's tallest Ambedkar statue

Exuding confidence that BRS would form the government at the Centre after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday said the Dalit Bandhu scheme would be implemented across the country once the party comes to power.

Launched in 2021, the Dalit Bandhu scheme offers Rs 10 lakh to Scheduled Caste families as a 100 per cent grant to start a business. The funds given under the direct benefit transfer scheme need not be repaid.

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Addressing a public meeting after unveiling a 125 ft-tall statue of BR Ambedkar in Hyderabad, KCR said the BRS was getting a tremendous response from Maharashtra and was expecting a similar reaction from West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. “I will tell you certain things. We will form the government at the Centre in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Some of our enemies may not be able to digest this. But one spark is enough to light,” he said.

Unveiling the Ambedkar statue on his birth anniversary, KCR said Dalits were still the poorest in the country even 70 years after the Constitution came into effect, which was shameful. Pitching for change in the country, he said political parties may win or lose, but the people of the country should win.

KCR said his government had spent over Rs 1.25 lakh crore during the past 10 years (including this year’s budget) for the development of Dalits, as against the Rs 16,000 crore spent by the earlier government in the same period of time.

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The Telangana CM said the welfare scheme for Scheduled Castes would be extended to 1.25 lakh families during the current fiscal year. “Dalit Bandhu will be given to 25 lakh Dalit families every year across the country once our government is formed (at the Centre).”

The BRS government would allot a Rs 51 crore corpus for an award in the name of Ambedkar to be given to people in the field of service, the CM announced. Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar was the sole chief guest at the unveiling of the 125-ft statue.

(With Agency inputs)