Taking exception to the State government’s decision to divert ₹11,000 crore meant for development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to meet the fund requirements for five guarantee schemes, BJP SC Morcha has said that the Congress government has deceived the Dalits by doing so.
Addressing a press conference in Dharwad on Wednesday, general secretary of BJP SC Morcha Mahendra Koutal said that by diverting the funds, the Congress government has cheated the Dalits and showed its anti-Dalit stand.
“Siddaramaiah had, during his first term as the Chief Minister in 2014, allocated ₹26,000 crore for the SC, ST communities. However, he had put a rider that if the funds are not used within the stipulated time, the funds will be diverted to other departments. However, during the run-up to the Assembly polls, Mr. Siddaramaiah announced that this time if the party is elected to power, it will allocate more funds for the Dalit communities and the funds will not be taken back or diverted to other departments for development works. However, now, the Chief Minister has failed to keep his promise and thereby, has delivered grave injustice to the Dalits,” he said.
As no funds are available for the populist schemes, Mr. Siddaramaiah has announced diverting ₹11,000 crore meant for the development of SC, STs. It is unfortunate that Dalit leaders and his Cabinet Ministers H.C. Mahadevappa and Priyank Kharge have given their consent to it, he said.
He urged the Congress government to withdraw its decision immediately and if not, they will be forced to launch agitation.
BJP leaders Sanjay Kapatkar, Mohan Ramdurg and others were present.
