After keeping the loan scheme into cold storage for almost eight long years, the Telangana government has finally rolled-out an economic support program also known as bank linked subsidy loan scheme for the benefit of poor families belonging to minority communities in the state. The government’s move comes just ahead of the proposed general elections for which the bugle may be blown anytime soon.
Despite the 8 long years of delay, the poor Muslim families felt that the government may display the generosity atleast for now. However, the Muslims get disappointed with the way the government adopts a lacklustre approach towards implementing the scheme, that too eight years after coming into power. The scheme simply appeared as an awful mockery of the Muslim community.
The K.Chandrashekher Rao government seems more inclined towards the welfare of Dalits than the Muslim minorities in the state despite the fact that both the communities are identically considered as economically backward. Though all the schemes were already enforced for the upliftment of Dalits on par with Muslim minorities, the government has recently come up with a new scheme called Dalit Bandhu that ensures Rs.10 Lakh of financial aid to each eligible Dalit family.
While announcing the Dalit Bandhu programme, the government decided to benefit 500 families in each constituency this year under the scheme. In every constituency, 500 families from Dalit community have been identified to benefit under the scheme this year.
Ironically, the bank linked subsidy loan scheme is nothing more than a drop in the ocean as it holds no compatibility with the Dalit Bandhu scheme when it comes to allocation of funds from the government.
While it was decided to select 500 Dalit families from each constituency under Dalit Bandhu scheme wherein the beneficiaries will get Rs. 10 Lakh each, only five thousand people from minority community will be able to get benefit under bank linked subsidy loan scheme which ensure a loan somewhere between Rs.50,000 to Rs.2 Lakhs with 70 to 80 percent subsidy. Moreover, no district in the state holds more than 300 beneficiaries from the minority community except the Hyderabad city where the Muslim families are generally found in myriad.
The TRS government earmarked funds to the tune of Rs.5900 crores under Dalit Bandhu scheme while only Rs.50 crores was allocated to benefit merely five thousand people from Minority community under bank linked subsidy loan scheme. Though a total Muslim population in the state stands at 17,47,608 (as per the 2001 census), only 1919 applications will be accepted in Hyderabad city under the scheme.
