Exuding confidence that the Bharat Rashtra Samiti would form the government at the Centre after the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday said that the Dalit Bandhu scheme would be implemented across the country after the party came to power.
The Dalit Bandhu scheme, launched in 2021, 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.
Addressing a public meeting after unveiling a 125 ft-tall statue of Dr B R Ambedkar in Hyderabad, Rao 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. In this 2024 Parliament elections, the next government is ours, ours, and ours. Some of our enemies may not be able to digest this. But one spark is enough to light," he said.
Unveiling the Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad on a grand scale on Friday, the birth anniversary of the architect of the Constitution, he said even after 70 years after the Constitution came into effect, Dalits were still the poorest in the country, which was shameful.
Pitching for change in the country, Rao said political parties may win or lose, but the people of the country should win.
Rao 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 amount of time.
The Telangana CM said the welfare scheme for Scheduled Castes would be extended to 1.25 lakh families during the current fiscal year, and added that 'Dalit Bandhu will be given to 25 lakh Dalit families every year across the country once our government is formed (at the Centre)'.
Speaking about Ambedkar, he said India's first law minister was still relevant in present-day politics and it was everyone's responsibility to ensure that his dreams for an equal society were fulfilled.
Rao said everyone should attempt to practise what Dr Ambedkar preached.
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.
According to an official release, the statue is the largest Ambedkar statue in the world.
Dr Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar was the sole chief guest at the unveiling of the 125-ft statue.
Prakash Ambedkar said his grandfather had been of the opinion that there was a need to declare another city as the second capital of India and that it should be Hyderabad.
He said as of now there were no national leaders in the country after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He also expressed appreciation for KCR and the Telangana government for implementing the Dalit Bandhu scheme.
Flower petals were showered from a helicopter on the statute in floral tributes to Ambedkar.
Costing Rs 146.50 crore, the statue is made out of 360 tonnes of stainless steel and 114 tonnes of bronze.
