Implement SCSP/TSP Act at national level, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah tells Modi
BENGALURU: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging a scam in SC/ST funds in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah refuted the charges and urged PM Narendra Modi to implement the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Scheduled Tribe Sub-Plan (SCSP/TSP) Act at the national level, to allocate funds proportionate to the Dalit population.
“It is ridiculous that Narendra Modi, who has not agreed to implement the SCSP/TSP Act at the national level for the past ten years, is now crying at election rallies that the Congress government is doing injustice to Dalits in Karnataka,” he taunted in a letter released to the media.
The Karnataka government’s budget for the current year is Rs 3,71,383 crore, of which Rs 39,121 crore is earm-arked for the SCSP/TSP scheme, he pointed out. The Central government’s budget for the current year is Rs 48.21 lakh crore, in which the grant for SC/ST development is a mere Rs 2,90,401 crore, he alleged.
“PM Modi, is this the Dalit concern of your govern-ment,” he asked. “Before the SCSP/TSP Act, the grant for Dalit community welfare in 2013-14 was Rs 8,616 crore, and in 2014-2015, when the Act was enacted, was Rs 15,894 crore. This has now reached around Rs 40,000 crore. This is the concern the Congress government has for Dalits,” he claimed.
He said his government implemented the Justice HN Nagmohan Das Committee recommendations, by hiking SC reservation from 15 to 17 per cent, and ST reservation from 3 to 7 per cent, with 24.1 per cent reservation for SC/ST contractors up to Rs 1 crore. Karnataka is a model for the country in the welfare programmes of SC/STs, he said.