Govt plan to uplift the downtrodden: Thota

Rajahmundry: The State government has formulated a comprehensive plan for the uplift of the downtrodden people, Minister for Stamps and Registrations Thota Narasimham said. He attended awareness meetings on the allocation of special funds for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and on the benefits of the SC/ST Sub-Plan for the beneficiaries at Thirumalyapalem, Gangampalem, Rampa Yerram Palem, Vedurupaka and Gokavaram villages of Gokavaram mandal in East Godavari district on Wednesday. Mr Narasimham reiterated that Andhra Pradesh was the only State to implement SC/ST Sub-Plan by following the guidelines issued by Dr BR Ambedkar and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He said the State government had earmarked Rs 13,000 crore for the development of SCs and STs and added that plans were being formulated on the priority of spending the funds. The government was paying Rs 1 lakh for housing whereas only Rs 65,000 was being paid for the housing for SCs and STs. He reminded that SCs and STs need not pay power charge up to 50 units. The State government had waived power charges of SCs and STs to the tune of Rs 285 crore in the past, he recalled. The minister said that the government was distributing nine essential commodities for only Rs 185 through Fair Price Shops from Ugadi and added that the market value of these essential commodities was Rs 300. He stressed the need for greater awareness among the people on SC/ST Sub-Plan.