Former Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac said here on Friday that the government order not to transfer the lapsed Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan funds to the general fund should be withdrawn. Earlier, the lapsed fund will be compensated from the general fund, he said and added that this was one of the most important aspects of the People’s plan. It is common that the funds for the SC/ST got lapsed and it was compensated earlier, which gave a fillip to their development.
The govt is trying to get away with Rs 150 crore meant for the SC/ST development by this decision, he alleged. Amounts of Rs 660 crore and Rs 99 crore were allotted for Special Component Plan and the Tribal Sub-Plan respectively in 2010-2011. However, around Rs 150 crore of the plan fund was not spent, Isaac said. He said that the government had now decided to do away with the authentication certificate of an official of the SC/ST Dept that the projects were in accordance with the guidelines. He said the govt was only taking ad hoc decisions that would not help the People’s plan.