In Telangana, the ruling Congress government has reportedly scrapped the Dalit Bandhu scheme started by the erstwhile BRS government. According to a Telangana Today report, while no new applications are being approved, people who were approved for the second instalment are currently unable to operate their businesses since the Congress government led by CM Revanth Reddy froze all Dalit Bandhu accounts.
In Medak district, the state government has even responded to the pending Dalit Bandhu applications at the district’s SC corporation for almost a year. “The Congress had promised to launch Dr Ambedkar Abhaya Hastham scheme by revamping the existing Dalit Bandhu and vowed to offer Rs 12 lakh as a one-time incentive. However, there was no move towards implementing the scheme so far…” ex-Andole MLA Chanti Kranthi Kiran told Telangana Today.
Similarly, in the Adilabad district, no fresh Dalit Bandhu applications are being approved by the SC corporation. Adilabad SC Corporation Executive Director Manohar said that MLAs did not submit a list of beneficiaries under the second phase of the Dalit Bandhu scheme. The SC Corporation officials added that the Congress government did not give any direction on whether to prepare a list of beneficiaries for the second phase or not. The officials of Nirmal, Mancherial, Karimnagar and Kumram Bheem Asifabad district’s SC Corporation also said the same.
It is ironic that on one hand, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi fought the 2024 Lok Sabha election caste-based politics and demanding a “caste census” positioning himself as the ‘messiah’ of Dalits, however, in his party-ruled state, a pro-Dalit scheme has been scrapped. While demanding a caste census at an event in Uttar Pradesh’s Praygraj, Rahul Gandhi went a step further as he indulged in caste profiling of winners of beauty pageants. During the event, the Congress leader alleged that 90% of the population did not have representation in the system. He then brazened it out saying that when he checked the list of Miss India winners, he could not find any women from Dalit, tribal, or OBC community.
Earlier, the Congress leader did caste profiling of bureaucrats, judges, Ministers, and media persons and on one occasion, his heated questions led to the near-lynching of a journalist.
“…I checked the list of Miss India to see if there would be any Dalit or tribal woman in it, but there were no women from Dalit, tribal or OBC. Still the media talks about dance, music, cricket, and Bollywood but does not talk about farmers and labourers,” Rahul Gandhi was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.