NEW DELHI: The funds allocated for scheduled caste under the Ministries of Culture and Consumer Affairs are way below what has been mandated by the Niti Aayog, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has observed while reviewing utilisation of funds for SCs.
According to the minutes of the meeting held by the ministry of social justice and empowerment with the ministries of culture and consumer affairs last week, this has been observed as ‘a serious lacuna’. A review of the development action plan for SCs showed the revised allocation was brought down to `11.76 crore which was .38 per cent as against the Niti Aayog guideline of 8.3 per cent.
The ministry has recommended that allocation is made for the SC to develop libraries and expanding the scope of Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana where a database of SC folk artists would be prepared. The database would be used for providing scholarships/fellowships and funds for improving their art forms.
The ministry may equip reading rooms in Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana villages with computers, it has suggested. The revised allocation for the development action plan for scheduled caste was .17 per cent as against the Niti Aayog guidelines.