AP Govt allocation for SC the highest, says Minister

Hyderabad, Nov 4 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Minister P Subhash Chandra Bose today said the government had allocated Rs 1,719.10 crore, the ''all-time highest'' allocation for a year, for the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SC) during 2007-08 in the state.

Addressing the media here, Mr Bose said the total allocation in 2007-08 was equal to total of three Budgetary allocations by the previous TDP Government from 2001 to 2004.

Alleging that the Opposition TDP was visiting social welfare residential schools to inspect the amenities in the premises to gain political mileage, he said Rs 160 crore was allocated for the maintenance of the schools and Rs 43 crore released additionally for salaries and diet.

Stating the government had increased diet charges from Rs 270 to Rs 338 a month for each student up to Standard VII and Rs 330 to Rs 412 from Standard VIII to X students, Mr Bose said the post-metric scholarships were also increased from Rs 525 to Rs 740.

UNI