By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter
New Delhi: The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights has expressed disappointment at a recent news item which showed that the NITI Aayog has expressed its inability to monitor and review the implementation of Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) and Schedule Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP).
As per a news item published on May 1 by the Press Trust of India and subsequently carried by many media outlets, the Aayog, in a letter written to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) said “…the concept of 5-year and annual plans and interaction with the Ministries and States in this behalf are no longer the mandate of the NITI Aayog.
“In view of the above the matter regarding the task of monitoring of both TSP has been reviewed at my level in NITI Aayog. It has been observed that the NITI Aayog would not be in a position to continue to monitor the implementation of TSP in view of reasons stated above,” Panagariya said in the letter.
In a letter to the NITI Aayog, members of NCDHR said they were “alarmed” at the recent exchange of letters between the NITI Aayog and Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. “Instead of proposing a robust mechanism for effective implementation of SCSP-TSP and transferring the responsibility to the concerned Ministries we find it a negligence by NITI Aayog that they are washing away their hands and abdicating their responsibility towards an important section of the Society,” the letter said.
“The current move by the NITI Aayog undermines Constitutional provisions and rights of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes leading to a deep negative impact on the communities for generations to come. At this critical juncture NITI Aayog has an important role in creating a body within MoTA and MSJE as nodal authorities with necessary powers and resources for implementation of SCSP and TSP. If this is not done not only the NITI Aayog, but the whole government will be responsible for excluding the marginalised communities from development,” the letter further added.
It is important to point out that in March, a day after the Budget, the NCDHR along with other organisations had protested at Jantar Mantar pointing out that according to the guidelines for budgetary allocations, 16.6% for SCSP and 8.6% for TSP from the plan outlay should have been made available for these schemes. However, just like the previous year’s budget, this year’s budget also fell short of meeting those requirements. This year, the total plan outlay was Rs 5.5 lakh crore, of which Rs 38,833 crore have been allocated to SCP (7.6%) while Rs 24,005 crore was allocated to TSP (4.36). As per the guidelines, the numbers should have been Rs 91,301 crore for SCP and Rs 47,300 crore for TSP. Thus, it is clear that the two sections have been denied a total of Rs 75,764 crore.
The NCDHR appealed to the NITI Aayog to legislate Scheduled Castes Sub Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan with necessary institutional and administrative resources for its effective implementation. It also asked the MoTA and MSJE along with nodal authorities to be empowered with necessary human and fiscal resources to effectively monitor and review SCSP and TSP.