KPCC working president R. Dhurvanarayan on Monday alleged that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have become “orphans” under the BJP government in the State and the BJP legislators have neglected their welfare in the State by not releasing funds promised in the State Budget.
The BJP government has increased the size of the Budget, but funds for the welfare of the SCs and STs have not increased. A sum of ₹27,588 crore had been allocated in 2019-20, ₹25,378 crore in 2020-21, and ₹26,695 crore in 2021-22 Budgets, he said.
The Congress regime introduced the Special Component Plan (SCP) and the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) (SCP-TSP Act) in 2014 and allocated funds as per the percentage population of SCs and STs in the State. Allocations during the Congress regime increased from ₹8,616 crore in 2013-14 to ₹ 29,691 crore in 2018-19.
Fund diversion
Mr. Dhruvanarayan also alleged over ₹7,000 crore SC/ST funds had been diverted to other works and urged the government to punish those officials indulged in diversion and misappropriation of funds.
The Congress leader alleged that 40% of funds meant for welfare schemes of SCs and STs had been siphoned off. Scholarships of students have been cut from ₹1,400 to ₹750 per month, he said. Similarly, funds have been downsized for various boards and corporations of the SC/STs, he said.
