Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has demanded that the bill meant for providing statutory status to SC and ST sub-plan should have a provision for transfer of funds meant for their welfare to the social welfare department directly from the plan budget.
TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, a day ahead of the discussion on the bill in the special session of the two-day Assembly, told newsmen here on Thursday that his party would fight till the government built enough safeguards in the bill so that the funds meant for the SCs and STs would be utilised for their welfare only.
“Already there are government orders that 16 and 6 percent of funds of all the departments should be utilised for welfare of SCs and STs respectively. If a statutory status is accorded to this, it is not going to be of any help. There should be a provision for apportioning the entire amount from the plan budget and transfer it to social welfare department,” Chandrasekhar Rao said.
He also demanded that the bill should have clauses that would not allow the SC and ST funds to lapse. “The practice now is that the finance department deliberately would allow the funds to lapse. The new legislation should have provision for carrying forward unspent funds to the the following financial year,” he said.
Chandrasekhar Rao wanted the allocation of funds and their utilisation in a transparent way by posting the data on a website. The government should provide incentives to the officers who work sincerely and ensure proper utilisation of the funds, he said.
He wanted the government to furnish details of how much money had been diverted from the allocations made for SCs and STs for other purposes. “How many thousands of crores had been diverted? Isn’t it a fact that 70 percent of SC and ST funds had been diverted for Jalayagnam?” he asked.
He wanted the chief minister, who heads a council meant for supervising the utilisation of funds for SCs and STs, be peopled with Dalit and Tribals who are experts in this area. The council should meet at least once in two months and not once in six months. Also, the legislation that is sought to be brought out now, should not have a timeframe of 10 years. “Why should it be a sunset legislation?” he asked.
To a question, Rao said that he was yet to get details of how much had been allocated for SCs and STs in Telangana and how much it had been diverted. “The facts I have are related to the entire state. Once I have details of Telangana region, I will share them with you,” he said.