6 days ago
Dalit leaders demand allotment of projects to their community alone
Visakhapatnam: Tenders for the supply of goods required for agriculture, rural development, Panchayat Raj, drinking water supply, power projects, hostels and residential schools, funded by the SC sub-plan in the state budget, should be allocated to Dalits alone, demanded Visthrutha Dalita Sanghala Aikya Vedika state convener Boosi Venkata Rao. Speaking at a media conference held at Dr BR Ambedkar Bhavan here on Tuesday, Venkata Rao mentioned that the government allocated Rs 20,281 crore for the SC sub-plan in the 25-26 budget.
Of this, Rs 1,289 crore for the agriculture department, Rs 1,144 crore for the development of rural Dalits, Rs 1,257 crore for the construction of houses for SCs, Rs 1,118 crore for ration distribution, Rs 1,500 crore for the health of Dalits, Rs 562 crore for drinking water, Rs 372 crore for Anganwadis in Dalit villages, and Rs 1,289 crore for food preparation in hostels and residential schools. The Dalit leaders alleged that although crores of rupees were allotted for the sub-plan, none of the projects were awarded to Dalits. They demanded that this trend should change as all the related projects should be given to the Dalits alone.
The government will pay Rs 150 crore to contractors for supplying food items to 1,04,000 students in 750 Social Welfare Hostels and 50 residential schools across the state, Venkata Rao mentioned that not a single supplier belongs to Dalit community. He demanded that these tenders should be allocated only to the Dalit unemployed youth.
