ECI orders deferment of Dalit Bandhu in Huzurabad

Scheme was launched in Huzurabad on a trial basis

Election Commission of India has on Monday instructed the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana to defer implementation of Dalit Bandh Scheme in all its forms in Huzurabad assembly constituency, which is witnessing by-poll on October 30. Implementation of the scheme should be deferred till completion of the by-election, the ECI said in a letter to the CEO.

Dalit Bandhu scheme, offering ₹10 lakh aid to one in every Dalit family in the State to help them become financially reliant, was launched by Telangana government a few weeks ago. A brain child of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the scheme was started on a trial basis in Huzurabad assembly constituency.

KCR’s political rivals described the scheme as a bait to lure dalits to vote for TRS in the bypoll. However, TRS leaders countered the allegations maintaining that it was aimed at uplifting dalits. Already, the State government has released . ₹2,000 crore for Dalit Bandhu in Huzurabad constituency.

Retired government official Padmanabha Reddy of Forum For Good Governance, which represented to the ECI, described the ECI order on deferment of the scheme as “big joke”. “Either the Commissioner should have said it treated the scheme as an ongoing one or stopped it much before,” he said.

According to him, the government had already identified beneficiaries of the scheme in Huzurabad assembly constituency which was witnessing by-poll. “Even ₹10 lakh to each beneficiary had been sent to the banks concerned. Disbursal of money is complete by now and there is no point in passing order seeking its deferment now,” he told The Hindu.

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