NEW DELHI: In order to better monitor the development action plan for the scheduled castes, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is planning to document the allocations utilised on a real-time basis.
Of the total `81,356.35 crore allocated under development action plan for SCs, the amount released as on December 24, 2019 was `35,391.99 crore. A senior official of the social justice ministry said the website, e-utthaan, is currently updated every evening recording the funds utilised across ministries.
“Of the funds allocated, 43.50% have been utilised so far. In order to enhance the monitoring system for better utilisation of funds, the ministry is planning to turn the current website which is updated every night into a real-time one,” said the official.
As a part of the government’s socio-economic and financial inclusion strategy, the government allocates funds across ministries/departments for different schemes for targeted financial and physical benefits SCs.
The top four ministries/departments based on allocation for welfare of SCs in 2019-20 are: Department of School Education and Literacy; Ministry of Power; Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy, according to the e-utthan website.
More inter-ministerial meetings, coordination with state governments and stakeholders at the district level are required in order to better achieve the utilisation level of the funds plan, said the official.“This will be possible when the utilisation is monitored on a real-time basis. This will help the ministry intensify coordination with other ministries which have poor utilisation of funds,” the official added.
Updating data on real-time basis a challenge
The primary challenge with updating data on a real-time basis is that several of these schemes are aimed at the population in remote areas. Hence the relay of information takes time.