HYDERABAD: Exuding confidence that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) would form the next government at the Centre, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao declared that the Dalit Bandhu scheme would be implemented for 25 lakh Scheduled Caste (SC) families every year across the country.
Addressing the gathering after unveiling the 125-foot-tall bronze statue of Dr BR Ambedkar near the Secretariat on Friday, Rao, who is also the president of the BRS, declared his unwavering commitment to lead the nation in the right direction and stated that he would fight for it relentlessly.
Asserting confidence that the BRS would form the next government at Centre after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Rao said, “Our enemies may not be able to digest this. But, we need the confidence to say such words. We are going to form the next government at the Centre.
A small spark is sufficient to bring in a change. There has been an overwhelming response from people when I visited Maharashtra recently. Such response is possible in Bihar, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and other states too,” Rao averred.
“We have just unveiled the tallest statue of Dr Ambedkar in the country. This statue will send a strong message across the country. The ministers and other officials who are attending duties in the Secretariat will witness the statue of Dr Ambedkar and understand the need to implement what Ambedkar said. This is not just a statue. It is a revolution and a message,” the CM said.
Hyderabad should be made 2nd capital: Prakash Ambedkar
Stating that he would implement the suggestion given by Katti Padma Rao, a Dalit poet and the founder-general secretary of Dalit Mahasabha Katti, Rao said the State government would award to people who serve society in an exceptional manner. The awards would be given in the name of Ambedkar, Rao said and announced that the government was allotting Rs 51 crore for the same. “We will deposit Rs 51 crore. The interest amount that we will get every year will be around Rs 3 crore. The interest amount will be utilised to present the awards to people across the country every year,” he said.
He recalled that the previous Congress government in the 10 years from 2004 to 2014 spent Rs 16,000 crore for the welfare of SCs. “However, the BRS-led State government spent Rs 1.85 lakh crore in the last 10 years. We have named the new Secretariat building after Dr Ambedkar as well. The State government provided Rs 10 lakh grant to 50,000 SC families each in the state so far. We are going to provide Dalit Bandhu financial assistance to another 1.25 lakh families in this financial year,” Rao said.
The grandson of Dr Ambedkdar, former MP Prakash Ambedkar, who unveiled the 125-foot-tall bronze statue along with the CM, recalled that Dr Ambedkar had proposed Hyderabad as the second capital of the country.
‘TS has shown a new path to the country’
“What is Dr Ambedkar’s relation with Hyderabad? When the question of the country’s security came up for discussion in the constitutional assembly debates, Dr Ambedkar suggested the need to have another capital for the country.
He suggested Hyderabad. Since Delhi was 300 km away from the Pakistan border and 500 km away from China’s border, he suggested Hyderabad as the second capital for security reasons. Appreciating the Dalit Bandhu scheme, the former Lok Sabha member said that Telangana has shown a new path to the country for the development of SCs.
Stating that there was no national leader in the country after AB Vajpayee, Prakash Ambedkar said that leaders from the states should emerge as national leaders. He suggested that Telangana’s model should be implemented across the country and appealed to the people to support KCR.
Finance Minister T Harish Rao, SC Welfare Minister Koppula Eshwar, IT & Industries Minister KT Rama Rao and State Legislative Council chairman Gutha Sukhender Reddy and others were present. Earlier, flowers were showered on Ambedkar’s statue with the help of a helicopter.
Promises made