Vijayawada, May 10: National convenor of the All-India Ambedkar Youth Federation K Anand Rao criticised the national and regional political parties of encouraging untouchability in the parties by setting up separate cells for Scheduled Castes and Tribes and using the Dalit MLAs as their stooges.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Anand Rao said the cells had no say in the party affairs as the main decisions were being taken without the participation of these cells. He alleged that the political parties set up these cells only to garner the Dalit votes in the State.

Expressing concern over the increasing unemployment among the Dalit youth, he said they were turning out to be anti-social elements due to lack of employment opportunities.

He demanded that the State and Central governments allocate more funds for the development of the Scheduled Castes. He said the State government was reducing the budget to the SC Corporation year after year and not utilising the released funds properly.

Stating that the Dalit MLAs were the main culprits for the situation, he accused them of not raising the issues related to the Dalits. He warned that the activists would gherao the legislators if they did not change their attitude.