Wed Mar 26 02:50:00 UTC 2025: ## Telangana’s Rajiv Yuva Vikasam Scheme Faces Criticism Over Restrictive Eligibility Criteria
Hyderabad, March 25: Telangana’s much-anticipated Rajiv Yuva Vikasam scheme, aimed at empowering youth, is facing criticism for its stringent eligibility criteria. The scheme, which offers financial assistance, is limited to only one member per family and mandates possession of a ration card. Further complicating matters, the application process involves multiple layers of screening at the mandal and district levels, requiring final approval from the district minister before loan disbursement.
The government’s recent release of guidelines has also sparked confusion, as there is no clarity on the status of applications already submitted for other similar schemes. While the government announced a deadline of April 5th for applications and promised disbursement of funds by June 2nd, the linking of the scheme to ration cards has created significant hurdles. Individuals lacking a ration card are required to submit an income certificate, but revenue officials are reportedly using the ration card as the primary verification document, creating a circular dependency.
The situation is further aggravated by the large number of pending applications for other government schemes like BC Bandhu, Minority Bandhu, and Tri-car. Estimates suggest 7-8 lakh applications are already pending. The online application process for Rajiv Yuva Vikasam is automatically rejecting applications from those who have previously applied for other loans, without any clear indication of whether these existing applications will be considered. The lack of transparency regarding the fate of these applications has added to the growing discontent amongst the youth.
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