Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Bhavans/Community Halls in Telangana: An Evaluation Study

The question of the development of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and its analysis received considerable attention during the post-Independence period. The Central and State governments have been launching several programmes and institutions for the economic and social progress of the SCs as well as raising the consciousness of their rights. The Ambedkar statues and the construction of Ambedkar Bhavans/community halls are a platform for organizing the SCs to debate and articulate key issues and concerns; fostering solidarity among SCs is an important initiative of the government, across the country. The core objectives of the study are to examine the distribution of Ambedkar Bhavans/community halls in the districts and budgetary allocations and the expenditure incurred towards the construction of the halls. The other objective is to assess the utilization of Ambedkar Bhavans/community halls and the activities undertaken in them and their impact on the empowerment of Scheduled Castes in the selected districts. The empirical study highlights that the members of the community are making use of the community halls to debate the issues of their surroundings and the implementation of government schemes, besides organizing their social functions and economic activities. However, there is no rationality in allocating the budget for the land and the construction of buildings across the districts in the state.