BENGALURU: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has issued a notice to the Karnataka government over the alleged diversion of funds meant for the welfare of SCs and STs to implement its five guarantee schemes.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the government’s decision to divert Rs 14,730.53 crore from the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) to fund the guarantee schemes, the commission has sought a detailed report within seven days.
“The commission is mandated to monitor issues pertaining to development of Scheduled Castes in states, especially with reference to Special Component Plan (SCP) and Special Central Assistance (SCA), in pursuance of the power conferred upon it under Article 338,” Rajeev Kumar Tiwari, joint secretary of the commission, stated.
Even ruling Cong MLAs against state govt’s move
With the commission’s intervention, opposition parties, especially the BJP, are likely to raise the issue during the monsoon session to begin on July 15. Under Section 7(C) of the SCSP/TSP Act, the government made a provision to divert funds meant for the welfare of SCs and STs to implement the guarantee schemes, claiming that most of the beneficiaries belong to these communities. For the general social sector schemes included in the sub plan, the allocation will be made in proportion to the SC/ST population, according to sources.
But MLAs, including those from the ruling Congress, are against the government’s move as it has no data of SCs and STs benefiting from the guarantee schemes. “We will raise this issue in the coming session and ensure that SCSP/TSP funds are spent on the schemes for these communities. We will oppose the move to ‘convert’ 25.1% of the funds meant for them to implement the guarantee schemes,” a senior legislator told TNIE.