BJP seeks clarity on Dalit funds

Ambedkar had said Dalits will get respect when they get representation. “What have you done? You appoint one minister and you say that all have got respect,” BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan said

Press Trust of India

Hyderabad: The BJP on Saturday demanded that the BRS government in Telangana release a white paper on the funds spent on Dalit welfare during the last nine years and an ‘accountability report’ on alleged atrocities against Dalits in the State.

Referring to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi government installing a 125-ft statue of B R Ambedkar here recently, BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan alleged that though the State government inaugurated the giant statue of the architect of the Indian Constitution, the BRS talks about opposition unity and stands with those who insulted Ambedkar. It took more than four decades for the Congress government to give Ambedkar the Bharat Ratna. “And, you are standing with them,” he said.

The people of Telangana gave BRS the opportunity to serve but it only misled the Dalits, he alleged. It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government which took measures, including declaring five historical places associated with Ambedkar as ‘panch teerth’ and making a Dalit leader and a “daughter of Adivasi samaj’ as President, he said.

“We want to challenge the present government of Telangana. What have you done for the Dalits, for the tribals, for the backwards, for the marginalised,” the BJP leader asked. Ambedkar had said Dalits will get respect when they get representation. “What have you done? You appoint one minister and you say that all have got respect,” he said. The BRS government should learn from the NDA government at the Centre as it has given “hisotric” representation to the weaker sections in the Union Cabinet, Paswan said.

The BJP is grateful to the BRS government for the installation of the 125-ft tall statue of Ambedkar, but the statue was installed due the pressure mounted by BJP’s state unit, he claimed. The BJP leader alleged that the BRS government failed to implement its promises to Dalits, including distribution of three acres of land to them and representation in government. Who will give the details on the Rs 8,000 crore fund for SCs, he asked.

Talking about the BRS government’s ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme (grant of Rs 10 lakh per Dalit family to start their own business), Paswan asked how many benefited under the scheme. Referring to media reports on the alleged remarks of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in a party meeting that he is aware of MLAs who are taking commission in ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme, the BJP leader said Rao should make the names of such MLAs public.

“We demand from the State government that you release a white paper on the expenditure that has been done for Dalit welfare. We need clear cut accountability of thousands of crores of funds that has been spent in the name of Dalit welfare, in the name of the welfare of marginalised sections, where has that money gone,” Paswan said.

Claiming that Telangana has always been among the top five States in atrocities against Dalits, he demanded that the BRS government give an ‘accountability report’.