HYDERABAD: Political leaders and Dalit intellectuals have called for a better mechanism and accountability for effective enforcement of the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) Implementation Act.
Speaking at a round table conference organised by the Centre for Dalit Studies said here on Monday, they said in common voice that officials and policymakers should be held responsible for poor implementation of SCSP or diversion of funds earmarked for it.
They decided to give a representation to governor ESL Narasimhan and chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy soon on the issue.
They suggested creation of a nodal agency comprising retired bureaucrats and NGO members to monitor the implementation.
Dalit representatives of political parties said they would bring pressure on their party for support to the SCSP.
KR Venugopal, former secretary to prime minister, said, “The nodal agencies should be given all the financial powers to spend money for Dalit welfare at the district and village levels.
Out of ` 40,000 crore needed for SCSP since 1993, about `18,000 crore has either not been spent or diverted.’’ CPM state secretary BV Raghavulu said that though allocations for SCSP in the State budget went up considerably since 2008, the actual spending was much below mandatory 16.2 percent.
Mallepalli Laxmaiah, who acted as the moderator, said governments were spending SCSP funds on flyovers and beautification of cities .
A mere `10 crore was re-appropriated for the plan in the last three years whereas the money diverted was to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore.
Chukka Ramaiah, MLC, said the focus of SCSP should be on education, health and land for Dalits