By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: National Confederation of Dalit Organization (NACDOR) has expressed disappointment on the interim budget of the Government of India.
In a statement NACDOR said that the Union Government has failed to give proportionate allocation for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the interim budget.
[Courtesy: nacdor.org/]
UPA government today presented the interim budget. Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) do not seem very happy for the budget, right befer the general elections. SCs comprise of 16.6% of total population while that of STs are 8.6% according to the 2011 census.
|
Particulars of Total Plan and Non-Plan budget (Rs in Cr) |
||||
| Particular | 2012-13 (AE) | 2013-14 (BE) | 2013-14 (RE) | 2014-15 (BE) |
| Total Budget | 1410367 | 1665297 | 1590434 | 1763214 |
| Plan Budget | 413625 | 555322 | 475532 | 555322 |
| Non Plan Budget | 996742 | 1109975 | 1114902 | 1207892 |
|
Particulars of allocation made under SCSP for Scheduled Castes |
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| Allocation under SCP | 28218.81 | 41561.13 | 35800.6 | 48638.31 |
| SCP in Percentage | 6.82 | 7.48 | 7.53 | 8.76 |
| Due SCP in percentage | 16.60 | 16.60 | 16.60 | 16.60 |
| Due SCP | 68661.75 | 92183.45 | 78938.31 | 92183.45 |
| Denial under SCP | 40442.94 | 50622.32 | 43137.71 | 43545.14 |
|
Particulars of allocation made under TSP for Scheduled Tribes |
||||
| Allocation under TSP | 16723.73 | 24598.39 | 22030.47 | 30726.07 |
| TSP in Percentage | 4.04 | 4.43 | 4.63 | 5.53 |
| Dues TSP in Percentage | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.6 |
| Due TSP | 35571.75 | 47757.69 | 40895.75 | 47757.69 |
| Denial under TSP | 18848.02 | 23159.30 | 18865.28 | 17031.62 |
|
Particulars of allocation made under SCSP and TSP together |
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| Allocation under SCSP and TSP | 44942.54 | 66159.52 | 57831.07 | 79364.38 |
| Due under SCSP and TSP | 104233.50 | 139941.14 | 119834.06 | 139941.14 |
| Denied under SCP and TSP | 59290.96 | 73781.62 | 62002.99 | 60576.76 |
NACDOR feels that the Congress led UPA has disappointed the Dalits and Adivasi in the budgetary allocations and expenditures; as follows:
1. It has tried to satisfy the SC/ST only by a partial allocation i.e. 8.76% (Rs. 48638 Cr) for SC and 5.53% (Rs.30726 Cr) for ST. Whereas decision of National Development Council (NDC) mandates population proportionate allocation for SC/ST.
2. Rs. 60,576 Cr has been denied to SC/ST in the current budget. It is the normal trend of Union Government as seen in the table.
3. Government has changed the nomenclature of “Special Component Plan (SCP)” to “Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP)” in the budget document. It seems that the Union Government intends to confuse targeted population in different nomenclatures.
4. Union Government is alluring SC/ST with proposed bill on SCSP/TSP – to legitimize the present way of allocations and expenditure.
It also criticised the Union Government for ignoring SC/STs while generously extending commitment to the corporate sectors by way giving more without any hesitation. Following table gives an idea about it.
Scheme wise Denial for SC/ST
NACDOR cited some of the instances from SCSP to elaborate on their dissatisfaction with the budget.
1. Prevention of Atrocities Act – Budget has been reduced from Rs. 130 Cr (2013-14 – Revised Estimate) to Rs. 90 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate).
2. Post Metric Scholarship – Budget has been reduced from Rs. 1908 Cr (2013-14 – Revised Estimate) to Rs. 1500 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate).
3. Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has closed 22 schemes and added 9 new schemes reduced the budget from Rs. 1929 Cr (2013-14 – Revised Estimate) to Rs. 1888 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate).
4. Department of Commerce has allocated Rs. 100 Cr for the Tea Board, Coffee Board, rubber board and Spices without making any provision for reservation in these boards.
5. Department of Electronics and Information Technology has reduced the Budget from Rs. 21 Cr (2013-14 – Budget Estimate) to Rs. 10 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate) for e-governance.
6. University Grant Commission has reduced budget from Rs. 868 Cr (2013-14 – Budget Estimate) to Rs. 598 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate).
A statement by NACDOR said, “Atrocities are increasing day by day, numbers of students are also increasing but the government is committed to despise them by and by in slow degree. Same is the case for Scheduled Tribes.”
Schemes violating the mandates of SCSP/TSP
There are certain area where the allocations for SC/ST are relatively better. But these schemes are popularly known for the larger chunk of corruption. For example
|
Scheme Name |
2012-13 (AE) |
2013-14 (BE) |
2013-14 (RE) |
2014-15 (BE) |
|
Schemes Wise allocation /Expenditures under SCSP for SCs |
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|
Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) |
3469.87 |
3849 |
3849 |
4000 |
|
National Programme of Nutrition Support to Primary Education (Mid Day Meal Scheme) |
2143.94 |
2643 |
2442.84 |
2651 |
|
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan |
4776.78 |
5451.6 |
5408.66 |
|
As per the provision of the National Development council, the allocations made under these programs required to be spent under the schemes that directly benefit the individuals, families and hamlets belonging to the SC/ST. But the government is spending the funds for the non-intended purposes covered under Standard Object Head 31 which meant for “Grant-in-Aids-General”.
Dalit groups allege that the funds are spent for the general purpose and not for the specific purpose of benefiting the SC/ST students.
They alleged, “The UPA government is not adhering to its own commitments made in the National Development Councils and has made several attempts knowingly to despise the SC/ST population. On the other hand it is promoting the institutions who are practicing discrimination with SC/ST – such institutions are corporate sectors who have not made any program for the inclusion of SC/ST in Corporate social Responsibility and Affirmative Actions.”
With the Lok Sabha polls only months away, the government has also announced a Rs.200 crore venture capital fund to promote Dalit entrepreneurs. The Industrial Finance Corp of India will set up the fund that will provide concessional finance to entrepreneurs from the community, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.