Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bengaluru: Having initiated a drive to ascertain caste-wise data of beneficiaries for four of its five guarantee schemes, the Congress government is aiming to allocate Scheduled Caste Special-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCSP/TSP) funds for these four guarantees in the 2025-26 Budget as per the final figures of SC/ST beneficiaries, expected by March-end.
The government is pinning its hopes on the drive to retaliate against the shrill campaign by the BJP-JD(S) combine against the “misappropriation” of the SCSP/TSP funds by the Congress for the guarantees.
The SCSP/TSP Act, implemented during Siddaramaiah’s first chief ministerial term (2013-18), allocates 24.1% (estimated population of SC/STs in Karnataka) of the total Budgetary allocation for expenditure on SC/STs.
As per latest government data, there have been 1.23 crore beneficiaries under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, 1.28 crore cardholders under the Anna Bhagya scheme, 2.57 lakh beneficiaries under Yuva Nidhi, 1.63 crore households under Gruha Jyothi and 405 crore tickets sold.
According to a well-placed source in the Social Welfare Department, the number of SC/ST beneficiaries under the Gruha Lakshmi and Anna Bhagya schemes is roughly around 28-30%, while their corresponding share under Yuva Nidhi is around 20%.
The source noted that proportion was higher in Anna Bhagya and Gruha Lakshmi as a significant portion of the beneficiaries of these schemes are from poor and marginalised sections of the society.
However, the number is lesser under Yuva Nidhi as the proportion of graduates is lesser among SC/STs when compared to other communities.
During the Winter Session of the Legislature in Belagavi in December 2024, the Legislative Committee for the Welfare of SC/STs headed by Congress’ Malavalli MLA P M Narendraswamy submitted a report, which had recognised the absence of data on SC/ST beneficiaries, and objected to the government using Rs 14,730.53 crore for the guarantees from the SCSP/TSP corpus, which comes to around 28% of the overall Rs 52,000 crore set aside for guarantees in 2024-25 Budget.
The report had mentioned that the overall expenditure from the corpus must be pegged at Rs 12,532 crore, since that constitutes 24.1% of the total amount of Rs 52,000 crore earmarked for guarantees.
A senior Dalit leader in the Congress, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that it was important to find out caste-wise data for effective implementation of funds for the guarantee schemes.
“However, the contentious Section 7C of the Act must be removed for the Act to truly serve the interests of Dalits,” he added.
As per Section 7C of the SCSP/TSP Act, for general sector schemes like education, health and so on, money is provided from the SCSP/TSP corpus as per the proportionate participation of SC/STs in those schemes.
Including the 5 flagship guarantees, there are around 125 general sector schemes coming under the section.
Confusion over Shakti
However, the government is in a fix to find caste-specific data for the Shakti scheme, which provides free bus travel to women in non-premium state-run buses.
According to sources in the Social Welfare Department, they have requested the Transport Department to cap the expenditure on Shakti at 24.1%, since data on beneficiaries is not available.
However, the Transport Department has reportedly contended that the number of SC/ST women availing of the Shakti scheme is higher than 28%, though it doesn’t have accurate data.
The Finance Department is soon expected to take the final call on the exact quantum of expenditure.