KHAMMAM: A few middlemen are asking anywhere between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh from Dalit families for the latter to avail the Dalit Bandhu scheme in its first phase in Chintakani mandal.The State government has announced Chintakani as one of the four mandals in the State to implement the scheme. The Dalits, most of whom are poor, are struggling to meet the middlemen’s demands and some of them are afraid that if they don’t pay them, they won’t get the scheme’s benefits.
Some middlemen are targetting dalits who don’t support the ruling party, telling them they won’t get the benefits as they don’t support TRS, unless the dalits pay them. CLP leader Mallubatti Vikramarka alleged that TRS leaders in the mandal are forcing Dalits to join the TRS party by saying they can only avail the scheme by doing so.