CM sops for BCs, STs & minorities

State to release funds to community bodies

After Dalits, people from Backward Classes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities are set to get financial assistance from the Telangana government soon in the form of banklinked subsidy loans to pursue self-employment.

After Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao announced the Dalita Bandhu scheme on June 18 to improve the socio-economic status of Dalits by transferring `10 lakh cash to the bank accounts of each Dalit family to pursue self-employment of their choice, similar demands cropped up from other sections.

People from BC, ST and Minority communities seeking self-employment have been waiting for four years for want of funds. The BC, SC, ST and Minority corporations invited applications for selfemployment in 2017-18.

Over 9.5 lakh applications have been pending with these corporations for over four years due to fund crunch. The government has decided to release funds to these corporations to clear all pending applications in phases this year.

As many as 5.10 applications of BCs are pending, while ST applicants are

2,02,433, SC applicants

1,73,159 and Minorities

23,829. The state government allocated `650 crore last year to clear ST applications but funds were not released due to Covid financial crisis.

Sources said the Chief Minister had directed finance department to release funds this year as financial condition has improved now. The Chief Minister asked corporations to clear pending applications before accepting new applications. With this, the corporations have stopped accepting new applications and are taking steps to clear pending applications.

The government kept required funds available with district collectors to disburse loans. But the dis-bursal was halted due to the Covid crisis.

The government asked collectors to sanction funds available with them to these corporations and clear pending applications. In Minorities Corporation, applications were last accepted in 2014-15 for loans, which are still pending due to lack of funds. The government had sanctioned `786 crore to ST Corporation last year, but funds were not released.

With Dalita Bandhu launch, the government wants to address the pending selfemployment schemes of other sections too along with Dalits.