Hyderabad: Deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka on Saturday said the previous BRS govt did not utilise the SC/ST sub-plan funds meant for the communities, but the incumbent Congress govt was spending every rupee of the sub-plan funds for the development of SC and ST communities in the state. “Under the sub-plan, 17,169 crore was allocated for the STs. Additionally, 1,296 crore unspent funds from the past were carried forward. To understand the needs of tribal communities, we brought together tribal leaders and launched training programmes to implement solutions. When lands assigned to the poor were being grabbed under the ‘Dharani’ system of the previous BRS govt, we protested. We pledged to throw Dharani into the Bay of Bengal and came to power with that promise. Now, we’ve introduced the Bhu Bharati Act to ensure land rights to tribals,” he said. Bhatti said that 1,000 crore was allocated exclusively for tribals under the Rajiv Yuva Vikasam Self-Employment Scheme and the Indira Solar Tribal Development Scheme was also launched to help tribal farmers live with dignity. “The state govt has brought the Nallamala Declaration to protect the rights and dignity of tribals,” he said at the Telangana Adivasi Congress workers training programme in Palwancha of the combined Khammam district. The deputy CM said, “The Congress govt is planning to expand Singareni on a global scale. We have appointed experts to gather the necessary information and recommendations for this expansion. Once we receive the report, we will initiate the action plan. New mines are ready to extract 22 million tonnes of coal over the next 30 years. The primary goal is the safety of Singareni workers—business comes only after that. In case of accidental death of a Singareni worker, we are providing 1 crore accident insurance along with compassionate appointments,” he said. Earlier, AICC in-charge of Telangana, Meenakshi Natarajan, held a review meeting with party leaders from the combined Khammam district and participated in cleaning tribal hostels and planting saplings along with revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy among other Congress leaders.
