The Karnataka cabinet on Wednesday decided to create a new Scheduled Tribes (ST) secretariat to oversee the utilisation of funds and implementation of programmes meant for their welfare.
Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting with the newly-inducted ministers, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said there was a long pending demand for a ST secretariat. The contention has been that the TSP (Tribal Sub-Plan) funds are given through various departments and that there was no single body to streamline the allocation or overseeing of these funds.
In order to streamline this, the government has now decided to constitute the ST secretariat, Bommai said.
STs are estimated to form 7.5 per cent of the state's population.
Further, the cabinet also decided to reconstitute the Covid-19 Task Force, which was in existence during BS Yediyurappa's tenure. Since a new government has come, the Task Force, too, will be reconstituted and this will be done as soon as the portfolios are allocated in a day or two, according to Bommai.
Meanwhile, the state government will also constitute a committee headed by the Chief Minister to start a mission to oversee the implementation of programmes for women and child development and achieve better coordination in utilisation of funds.