Dalit Bandhu Scheme More than Rs 1,000 crore expenditure is less than actual releases in 3 years

The prestigious Dalit Bandhu scheme has witnessed Rs 1,007 crore less expenditure than the actual budget released from the 2021-22 to 2023-24. Hyderabad-based RTI activist Kareem Ansari asked the Telangana SC Corporative Development Corporation (TSCCDC) via Right to Information Act (RTI) about the Dalit Bandhu scheme expenditure and the budget released. In reply, TSCCDC said that a total of Rs 4,891 crore has been released for three years but Rs 3,884.52 crore has been spent.
The scheme was launched on August 16, 2021 in Huzurabad Assembly constituency for the uplift of Scheduled Caste (SC) people. It envisages granting a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh to each Dalit family.
For the 2021-22 and 2022-23 financial years, the government released Rs 4,191.8 crore but spent Rs 3,860.95 crore for the two consecutive years. In 2023-24, the government released Rs 700 crore but spent Rs 23.56 crore.
Karim Ansari said that the information revealed that it was a failure of government and bureaucracy. Some of the people have not been selected for this scheme and though some of them were selected they have not got the money. “Since the government changed there is a dilemma over the implementation of the scheme,” he said.
The government has given Rs 3860.95 crore to the 38,232 beneficiaries in the first phase of the scheme. In the phase II the government spent Rs 2,356 crore for 474 beneficiaries.