By IANS
New Delhi : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday opposed any move to set aside funds for minorities while other chief ministers of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states offered only a feeble opposition to the proposal at a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) here.
While BJP president Rajnath Singh had directed his party’s chief ministers to protest the proposal, Modi was the only BJP chief minister who raised the issue, which found no mention in speeches of either Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or of any other BJP chief minister at the meet.
“The new 15-Point Programme focuses on earmarking certain outlays of various developmental schemes and programmes among the eligible beneficiaries, based on their minority status, which should be reviewed in the interest of maintaining the social fabric of the nation,” Modi said.
“Such discrimination amongst the eligible beneficiaries for flow of funds, based on minority status, will not help the cause of taking the people of India together on the path of development.
“The correct criteria for flow of funds for various schemes and programmes should be based on the principle of equity by taking only socio-economic criteria alone, and leaving the implementation of such schemes to the states,” said Modi.
His suggestion to base the flow of funds on the socio-economic conditions is the criterion adopted by the central government for suggesting the 15-Point Programme in the draft of the 11th Five-Year Plan, said a Planning Commission official citing the Sachar Committee report on the socio-economic conditions of the Muslims.
The other BJP chief ministers steered clear of this issue.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan welcomed “the concept of inclusive growth during the 11th Plan period” as “laudable as the higher growth rate during the 10th Plan period had failed to bridge the gap between regions and social groups, a large section of the society not sharing the benefits of this higher growth rate”.
He did object to special attention given to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe women schoolteachers. “The proposal to reserve 75 percent posts of teachers being created in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) (Literacy for All) II for women needs serious reconsideration.”
He explained: “There is also the possibility that the posts reserved for the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe women candidates may remain vacant for want of suitable candidates.”
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh went to the other extreme of seeking central funds for ashram schools run in tribal areas in his state mostly by the Saraswati Shishu Mandir of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
He drew the attention of the NDC to the high dropout rate among tribal children and said, “As per our experience, residential schools have proved to be the most successful model in these dispersed locations. However, the existing SSA funding norms do not cover these ashram schools.
“I would reiterate that the SSA guidelines be suitably amended so as to take care of this critical problem.”
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasunhdra Raje and her Uttarakhand counterpart B.C. Khanduri, both of the BJP, did not touch the subject at all.
On the other hand, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who runs a coalition government with the BJP, said: “Enhanced allocations are no doubt important but we need a concrete implementation strategy for addressing the needs of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), EBCs, Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes, Maha Dalits, minorities, women and other disadvantaged groups.”
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), a BJP ally, supported the central government on its social sector investments.
Patnaik said, “Social sector investments in areas of health, education, poverty eradication as well as adequate provision for social safety net, promotion of gender equality, child and women welfare, development of disadvantaged sections, creation of income and employment opportunities for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been rightly accorded prime focus in the 11th Plan.”