Hyderabad,  Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has said that funds for implementation of Dalit Bandhu scheme will be released in a phased manner.

The chief minister reviewed the preparations for implementation of the scheme in four mandals on pilot basis. This is in addition to the Huzurabad Assembly constituency and chief minister's adopted village Vasalamarri, where the scheme was launched last month.

The government has picked up Chintakani Mandal in Madhira Assembly segment in the east, Tirmalgiri Mandal in Tungaturthy Assembly segment in the north, Charagondu mandal in Achampet and Kaluwakurty segments in the west and Nizam Sagar Mandal in Jukkal segment.

The chief minister has asked officials to have a parental approach while implementing Dalit Bandhu, the scheme aimed at empowering Dalits.

He asked the officials to support Dalits like parents through Dalit Bandhu. Like the parents who take care of their children, the officials should take care of Dalits under the Scheme.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, said the project is being implemented in four corners of the state to make it successful keeping in view the sentiments of Dalits, their financial needs, and their actual situation.

Under the scheme, every beneficiary Dalit family will get Rs 10 lakh as grant and they will be free to chose their profession, self-employment or businesses for utilising the funds.

He reiterated that Dalit Bandhu Scheme is being implemented with a higher ambition and social responsibility to develop Dalits economically, make them businessmen and to break the social and economic discrimination against them, which was in vogue for decades.

"Telangana Dalit Bandhu is a unique programme, which no one ever did in the past, a new idea no one ever tried, and we are the designers and implementers of the programme. By making the scheme a success, we will become the ones who laid new tracks for the development of Dalits," he said and recalled that the separate Telangana statehood movement was also a fight against the discrimination.

KCR on Monday held a meeting with ministers from the four districts of the Mandals, MP, MLAs, MLCs, Zila Parishad Chairpersons and others to discuss the preparations for implementation of the scheme.

He pointed out the scheme was formulated after a series of discussions with all the political parties and the elders among Dalits. Suggestions and advice came that any Mandal or Assembly segment should be taken to implement the schema totally. Accordingly, the pilot project of the scheme was launched in the Huzurabad Assembly segment.

The CM said from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, if there is any section that is facing discrimination and suffering pain, it is Dalits. This is what several international and national comparative research studies have pointed out. There are no qualitative changes in the lives of Dalits except some notional benefits. The entire society should come forward and help Dalits as a family comes to the rescue of its members when they are in trouble, he said.

The CM reiterated that eligible Dalits would be provided reservations in the sectors where the government would issue licenses such as medical shops, wine shops, Mee Seva centres, gas dealerships, transport permits, civil contracts, outsourcing contracts, and a host of others.