Nalgonda: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Wednesday announced a Rs 1,000 crore in ‘Chief Minister’s Dalit Empowerment Scheme’ which is to be implemented from the present financial year.

He said, Dalits have been ignored for decades and their condition needs to be improved, so a special fund of Rs 1,000 crore in the upcoming budget is allocated. The state government will monitor keenly the effective utilization of funds sanctioned. He addressed the public meeting at Palem in Haliya Mandal after laying foundation stones for 13 lift irrigation schemes, this will also help the once-parched erstwhile Nalgonda district.

He also showered the municipalities and local bodies in Nalgonda district with a Rs 186 crore monetary aid to be strengthened, and the State government would invite applications for new Aasara pensions and ration cards across the State.

The local bodies in the Nalgonda district were appreciated for their hard work with Rs 20 lakh each for 844 gram panchayats in the district from the Chief Minister’s Special Fund. Rs 30 lakh each for every Mandal headquarters was given besides Rs 10 crore for the Nalgonda municipality. Rs 5 crore for Miryalaguda municipality and Rs 1 crore each for the remaining six municipalities in the district for their development is granted.

He said Nalgonda district water problems also would be resolved by pumping water from the Paleru reservoir under the Sitarama Lift Irrigation Scheme in Khammam district to the Devulapally Balancing Reservoir in Nalgonda. The project will cost Rs 600 crore to pump water from the Godavari River to the Krishna River. Chief Minister said the 13 lift irrigation schemes will be completed in the next one and a half years, failing which, he will not seek votes in the next Assembly elections.

Local MLAs requested the Chief Minister for the construction of two more LIS at Veerlapalem and Thopucherla, for which the orders will be issued in a couple of days. He also said the Alair and Bhongir Assembly constituencies will be supplied with water by June as they will be completed soon. The entire erstwhile Nalgonda district will get water on completion of the Dindi LIS, he said.