AHMEDABAD: Paucity of funds is usually the biggest problem faced by organizations working for the upliftment of poor and vulnerable sections of the society. But sometimes, schemes and programs do not get implemented even when money is no object.
This is the conclusion one can draw from an analysis of the allocation and expenditure patterns for various welfare schemes in Gujarat in recent years.
A case in point is the Integrated Program for Rehabilitation of Beggars, which, as the name indicates, is meant for rehabilitating beggars by giving them vocational training to make them economically self sufficient.
In 2021-22, the central government allocated Rs 10 crore to Gujarat for the scheme. Surprisingly, the state used just Rs 5 lakh, which comes to a utilization level of a piddly 0.5%.
Despite this, the center gave even more -- Rs 15 crore -- the next year (2022-23). This time, the state spent Rs 44 lakhs, which comes to a utilization level of just 4.4%.
Several other vulnerable sections turned out to be equally unlucky.
Under the Comprehensive Rehabilitation for the Welfare of Transgender Persons scheme, the center allocated Rs 25 crore in 2021-22, but Gujarat was able to spend just Rs 1.91 crore.
Utilization level actually fell the next year, when the state spent just Rs 12 lakh out of the Rs 30 crore allocated -- which works out to a utilization level of less than half a percent.
The Gujarat government's track-record in the above schemes appears still better when compared with how it dealt with money allocated for the VISVAS scheme -- short for Vanchit Ikai Samooh aur Vargon ko Aarthik Sahayata – Financial Assistance Scheme for Oppressed Classes and Groups. The scheme extends interest subsidies to OBC/SC Self Help Groups (SHGs) or individuals.
Under this scheme, the state got Rs 10 crore in 2021-22, but could not spend even a single rupee in that year. In 2022-23, the central government allocated only one lakh rupees, which too lapsed in its entirety due to non-utilization.
When it comes to Denotified, Nomadic and SemiNomadic (DNT) community too, utilization levels remain far from optimal.
In 2021-22, the national government allocated Rs 40.40 crore under the SEED scheme, short for Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified, Nomadic and SemiNomadic communities.
Of this, the Gujarat government used only 21 lakh rupees, accounting for less than one percent of the total.
The next year, the central government allocated 28 crore rupees, of which the Gujarat government used only 2.30 crore.
Utilization level was comparatively better in the "Free Coaching for SCs" program. Of the Rs 30 crore allocated during 2021-22, nearly half -- Rs 14.98 crore -- was utilized. The next year, of the Rs 27 crore allocated, Rs 18.41 crore was utilized.
While the above schemes suffered from poor utilization, there were also some initiatives that suffered from under allocation.
For example, the central government granted a mere Rs 1 lakh as support for state scheduled caste development corporations in 2021-22, and nothing in the next year. Interestingly, even in 2021-22, the state government did not spend even a rupee.
Besides being under-utilized, many of these programs seemed to be among the first to be sacrificed during periods of emergency and financial stress -- such as during the year 2020-21 -- the year of COVID.
During this year, several of these schemes received no funding at all from the center, as revealed by Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in response to a query by Gujarat MP Vinod Chawda last year:
"Credit guarantee scheme and Upgradation of Merit of SC Student Program for improving the merit of scheduled caste students, Pradhan Mantri Dakshta and Kushalta Samapan Scheme (For SC and OBC), Scheme for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse, Research Studies and Publication Program, Integrated Program for Senior Citizens, National Survey on Drugs and Substance Abuse, Integrated Program for Rehabilitation of Beggars, Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojna, has not received a single rupee in grant funding for the fiscal year 2020-21."