 "SC/ST funds increase, but no plan yet to reach beneficiaries")
While the allocations called Scheduled Caste Sub Plan and Tribal Sub Plan registered a small increase from the previous year, with SCSP getting 0.43 per cent more and TSP getting 0.32 per cent more, they are still short of being proportionate to the population of SC/ST in the country. (box)
The second issue that has surfaced from the budget allocations is that of the ends achieved by these allocations.
The Expenditure Budget document Volume 1 gives a list of schemes in various ministries which set aside 100 per cent to 20 per cent of their funds for the SC/ST.
While the 100 per cent allocations are meant for the SC or ST, the allocations under other schemes have been questioned.
That many ministries have no schemes which can help SC or ST or any individual directly has been reason for those ministries not having anything to do with the SCSP and TSP.
In fact there are 25 such ministries who don’t have any obligation to set aside part of their allocations for SC/ST.
Says Paul Divakar general secretary of the Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan/ and National Council for Dalit Human Rights: In fact 75 per cent of schemes which have been allocating funds for SCSP and TSP are notional schemes. How can allocation for a hostel scheme in the Human Resource Development Ministry help SC or ST specifically? he asks.
In fact a sampling of some of these schemes and their allocations would reveal the futility of the exercise.
While some of the schemes stink of segregation some do not seem to achieve the end of reaching out to Dalits or Adivasis at all.
The police for instance are allocated Rs 40 crore for opening crèche, day care centres, women’s rest rooms. How it is possible to set aside creches and rest rooms for only SC/ST women is anyone’s guess, prompting Divakar to call them notional.
The real allocations crom from the Tribal Affairs Ministry which in any case is supposed to work for tribal welfare.
Just five ministries allocate 100 per cent funds for SC/ST dedicated programmes.
Most ministries make 20 per cent allocation for SC/ST within various programmes, without designing mechanisms to target SC/ST beneficiaries.
For example Seed infrastructure facility under Ministry of Agriculture has set aside Rs 79 crore to SCSP and TSP while National Food Security Mission has set aside Rs 270 crore for it.
NFSM is about increasing crop yields and does not have a scheme for helping SC/ST.
Even more vague is the allocation under National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme of the Health Ministry. About Rs 101 crore are set aside, but there is no indication as to how this fund is to help SC or ST.
Sarva siksha Abhiyan has set aside Rs 4793 crore for SCSP and TSP. But the scheme does not have schemes specific to admission of SC or ST children or recruitment of SC/ST teachers.
Again Rs 2284 crore is set aside under the head of Mid day meal scheme though it is meant for all children.
In the case of Rural Development Ministry the approach has been straightforward. It has set aside funds only in the case of Indira Awas Yojana and Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana where benefits can be extended directly to individuals from SC/ST. A total of Rs 7492 crore has been allocated for SCSP and TSPfrom these two schemes.
The flip side is that the ministry has refused to set aside funds for any other scheme saying that segregation of beneficiaries is not possible say in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Which is true of most schemes and hence calls for devising a method to spend the allocated funds.
Paul Divakar and other activists call for a paradigm shift in approach to the special component plan.
The funds should be set aside by all programmes ad ministries, and its use should be done by a third party dedicated to SC/ST welfare, says Divakar adding that the proposed legislation on SC ST funds should create this mechanism.
The Special Component Plan was introduced in 1989 but while the allocations have been happening at the Centre and state levels, the law is yet to create a mechanism to ensure that the funds actually reach the dalits and adivasis.
The will is missing, says Arun Khote convenor of the National Movement for Land Labour and Justice, a Dalit rights outfit in Uttar Pradesh.
In Uttar Pradesh which has a model allocation system which is able to track the funds kept aside for Dalits , 80 per cent of the funds have been lapsing for the last two decades, says Khote.
This year the state allocated 7500 crore for Dalit Sub Plan but has no plan to implement them, he says.
There is no guideline on how the money is to be used, he says. If the funds raised each year were to be spent only on Dalits or Adivasis even for five years, they can stop setting aside these funds. It would make them self sufficient, he says.
One year they could use it for education, one year for housing, one year they could do direct transfer. Why do they need any more assistance after that? he asks, adding that this will never happen as this country likes to keep one section oppressed.
Most states are now allocating funds from all departments and schemes for Dalits and Adivasis. But unfortunately they have no plans to spend the money. Most of the money is used up when natural calamity strikes, if they have not already been diverted for building roads and stadium, says Khote.
Mohan Gopal Director Rajiv Gandhi institute for contemporary studies in Delhi feels that the only way out is for a third party to monitor and advise ministries on the use of the funds.