Netas duping dalits and tribals?
Sudhir-Architect
Netas duping dalits and tribals?
Governments of all hues at the Center and state levels have always
claimed to be working for uplift of dalits and tribals, two of the most
deprived sections in India.
Together, they comprise nearly a quarter of India's population. Yet progress
has been slow and patchy despite decades of affirmative action. Why?
Part of the answer lies in gross neglect and insincerity of political rulers -
this is the conclusion of a study by the Center
for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), a Delhi-based think-tank.
Based on CBGA's findings, it turns out that in 2011-12, for instance, dalits
were deprived of about Rs.23,890 crore and tribals of Rs.12,187 crore by
deficient allocation by central government ministries.
Putting two key central government policies related to dalits and tribals under
the scanner, CBGA researchers found that these have largely remained on paper.
These policies are the Special Component Plan (SCP) for scheduled castes and
the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) for scheduled tribes. Started three decades ago, they
made it mandatory for central government ministries and departments to earmark
a fixed share of their spending for dalits and tribals, in proportion to their
population. This means that each agency needed to exclusively spend about 16%
of their funds on dalits and about 9% on tribals.
Analysing data from 2004-05 till 2010-11, CBGA found that allocation for dalits
has ranged between 4% to 8%, and allocation for tribals between 3% to 5% only.
That is, the government is officially allocating only about half the funds of
what it is mandated to do. In fact most ministries did not even differentiate
between dalits and tribals while giving spending details and just gave a
notional, lumpsum figure, says CBGA.
These funds were meant for various schemes ranging from education to employment
creation. Several crucial schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), schemes in
higher education, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), National Rural
Health Mission ( NRHM)
and Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) do not even have clear
guidelines about provisions for dalits and tribals. Some schemes like the
Indira Awas Yojana and the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana do have such
specific provisions and hence, work better.
Bowing to continued criticism on this count, the Planning Commission set up a
Task Force in 2010 headed by Narendra Jadhav. Among other things, this
recommended that every year, each ministry should give details of how much
money they spent on schemes related to dalits and tribals. Details of spending
are thus fully available since 2010-11 and they confirm the dismal picture of
earlier years: spending continues to languish in the 8-9% range for dalits and
3-5% for tribals.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Netas-duping-dalits-and-tribals/articleshow/12255961.cms
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Thanks & Regards,
Sudhir Srinivasan
B.Arch, MSc.CPM, Dip.ID, Dip.CAD, Dip.PM
| Architect |