Uttam hails HC order on ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme

Hyderabad, Nov 18 : The Congress on Friday welcomed the verdict of the Telangana High Court calling for impartiality in the selection of Dalit Bandhu scheme beneficiaries.
Congress MP and ex-TPCC President Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy and TPCC SC Cell Chairman Preetam in a media statement said the verdict has vindicated the allegation levelled by the Congress of partiality and politicisation of the Dalit Bandhu scheme. “I’ve pointed out on multiple occasions that the local TRS MLAs were misusing the Dalit Bandhu schemes for cheap political gains. They were selecting beneficiaries by taking huge commissions up to Rs 2 to Rs 5 lakh.
“Now the High Court has made it clear that the recommendation of MLAs is not required and only the committee set by the state government must evaluate applications,” they said, adding that the committees must comprise only officials and not the TRS party functionaries as is the case now.Notably, Jannu Nutan Babu and three others approached the High Court with a complaint that the Warangal District Collector was not considering their application for the Dalit Bandhu scheme as they were not members of the TRS party.
The petitioners said they were educated and jobless and deserve to get financial aid under the scheme. But the Warangal District Collector was not forwarding their application to the committee concerned as their names were not recommended by the local TRS MLA. After hearing the petition, Justice P. Madhavi Devi directed that the applications filed by petitioners be referred to an appropriate committee for verification and consideration in accordance with the rules and order of preference.
“The High Court has delivered a landmark judgment and this will benefit thousands of poor SC families across the Telangana State who were being deprived of Dalit Bandhu beneficiaries by the corrupt TRS MLAs. This is a slap on the face of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao who is trying to manipulate the entire system by linking welfare schemes with the ruling TRS party. In view of the High Court’s verdict, the government must ensure that the committee which evaluates the applications is allowed to function independently and transparently,” he demanded. Uttam Kumar Reddy also pointed out that the stand taken by the Warangal District Collector of refusing to entertain Dalit Bandhu applications in the absence of a recommendation by TRS MLA has exposed how the ruling party was trying to control the executive.The Congress MP said reiterated the demand that Gram Sabha should.
be empowered to select the Dalit Bandhu beneficiaries. Stating that the Congress +was all set to return to power in 2023, he warned that the next Congress government would take action against such sycophant officials on a priority basis.