Revanth Reddy failed to fulfill promise of increasing Dalit Bandhu amount: K Kavitha

HYDERABAD: BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha strongly criticised Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy at the Dalit Bandhu Sadhana Samithi meeting held at her residence. She alleged that the Chief Minister had no role in the Supreme Court’s decision on SC categorisation and accused him of misleading Dalits.

During the meeting, Kavitha remarked that neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor CM Revanth Reddy had contributed to the SC categorisation process. She demanded the immediate release of the Shamim Akhtar Commission report and urged the government to proceed with categorisation fairly without causing disputes among Dalit communities.

The BRS leader also accused Revanth Reddy of linking SC categorisation with government job recruitment. She insisted that the job calendar should not be halted under this pretext. Kavitha pointed out that six months had passed since the Supreme Court ruling, yet there had been no visible action from the government. She criticised the Chief Minister for bringing Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi to Telangana to make promises to Dalits instead of taking direct responsibility.

Kavitha also slammed the Congress government for failing to fulfil its promise of increasing the Dalit Bandhu scheme assistance from ₹10 lakh to ₹12 lakh. She demanded the immediate release of funds already approved by former CM KCR for 18,000 Dalit families before the state budget is presented. She further alleged that only ₹9,800 crore of the allocated ₹33,000 crore SC budget had been utilised so far.

She accused CM of weakening the state’s economy and driving Telangana into debt. Referring to the 125-foot Ambedkar statue, she criticised the CM for not paying proper respects, even failing to garland the statue. She warned that if the government failed to do so by Ambedkar Jayanti, BRS members would take matters into their own hands and honour the statue themselves.

Former minister Koppula Eshwar echoed Kavitha’s sentiments, stating that KCR’s vision was to uplift Dalits through initiatives like Dalit Bandhu. He highlighted KCR’s efforts in allocating ₹17,000 crore in the budget and proposing ₹57,000 crore in overall spending for Dalit welfare.

The meeting concluded with a demand for the Congress government to implement Dalit Bandhu effectively. The Samithi members expressed their support for MLC Kavitha and urged her to lead the movement.