Hyderabad, Dec 1, 2012:
Asserting that the welfare schemes implemented by the late Dr. YSR for SCs and
STs had benefited them immensely, YSR Congress Party honourary president Smt.
Y. S. Vijayamma demanded that the economic conditions of the SCs and STs should
be upgraded so as to put them on par with the forward castes.
“The Government seems
to be planning to bring economic equality among the SCs and STs themselves but
what is required is that all SCs and STs should be brought on par with the
forward castes economically,” Smt. Vijayamma told the assembly special session
on Saturday while participating in the debate over the SC, ST sub plan bill.
Smt. Vijayamma also
demanded the Congress leadership to implement the SC and ST sub plan bill
across the country by introducing it in the Parliament and providing
constitutional protection.
Smt. Vijayamma welcomed
the Government’s initiative to provide statutory protection to the SC, ST sub
plan but doubted the Government’s sincerity in the implementation of the bill
as it was timed just ahead of the election year with a view to regain the lost
credibility of the Congress and to garner SC and ST votes.
“If the Government is
sincere, there is no need for it to keep the bill secret till the last moment,”
Smt. Vijayamma observed.
Quoting Dr. Ambedkar’s
words that caste should not be an obstruction for development of SCs and STs,
Smt. Vijayamma said that SCs and STs have remained economically and literally
poor even today. “SCs are backward and STs are even more backward in literacy,”
she said.
Observing that SCs and
STs have benefited a lot thanks to the welfare schemes introduced by Dr. YSR,
she said that the YSR regime worked hard for their economic empowerment.
“Dr. YSR built pucca
houses besides providing health and food security, granting old age pensions to
nearly 40 percent of the masses,” Smt. Vijayamma said, adding the SCs and STs
benefitted most from the schemes.
She said that a total
of 20, 60,000 acres of forest land were distributed to the STs during the
period of Dr. YSR with 3.3 lakh acres being distributed on a single day. “SCs
sand STs have also benefitted through the waiver of Rs.1120 Cr loans during the
regime of Dr. YSR.”
Smt. Vijayamma said
Kiran Kumar Reddy Government has not done anything for the sake of SCs and STs
in the last three years and the Government has only been continuing the TDP
policies on the matter.
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