FinMin may set up non-lapsable funds for SCs,STs

Seeking to make bigger inroads into the dalit bastions of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,the ruling UPA has intensified its efforts to woo them to further consolidate its vote bank.

Seeking to make bigger inroads into the dalit bastions of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,the ruling UPA has intensified its efforts to woo them to further consolidate its vote bank. The expenditure statement of the Budget 2011-12 is expected to have focused earmarking of funds for the socio-economic upliftment of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) population.

Indications are that finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will announce setting up of two non-lapsable funds one each for schedule caste and schedule tribe sub-plans to plug all roads to diversion of funds by the ministries implementing the plans. This implies that the recommendations of the Narendra Jadhav Committee would be put into practice this year,in which 40 ministries will heave a sigh of relief as the sword of ear-marking funds for the two plans would be removed. However,the remaining ministries will have to earmark extra funds for the sub-plans and some of them will have to allocate up to 70 per cent funds.

Putting states and the Centre together,the Union Budget will see around 86,000 crore earmarked for the welfare of SC/ST population,with minimised chances for diversion of funds. Of this the Centre and states would spend nearly Rs 54,000 crore exclusively for welfare of SCs while another Rs 32,000 crore will be for the ST population.

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Sometime back,minister for social justice and empowerment Mukul Wasnik had written to the Planning Commission to overhaul the planning and funding pattern of the SC/ST sub-plans and that the existing guidelines be re-worked accordingly.

He reminded that the Congress party in its election manifesto in 2009 had pledged that allocations for the SCs and STs would be made according to their population.

However,critics of this move are a worried lot. They fear that plan process could lose its relevance and claim that with this over 32 per cent of central budget would go towards dedicated funding including 10 per cent is already earmarked for North east.

This,they say,would leave less than 70 per cent of GBS for planning over all development and constraint executing agencies from taking upon ambitious programmes especially when the budgetary allocation would also include dedicated funding for J&K.

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But,those in favour argue that economics can not be divorced from politics and with the growing influence of SC/ST in the voting pattern,such initiative are bound to come in future also specially when Congress, the leading ally of UPA has major stakes in states like UP and Bihar.