JOIN USGovt diverted funds for Scheduled Castes: NGO
Out of funds worth Rs 1,901.56 crore earmarked exclusively for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, the Delhi government diverted Rs 1,703.93 crore for schemes under the Commonwealth Games 2010, transportation and other projects in 2010-11, an NGO has said, citing official data.
Chief minister Sheila Dikshit denied charges that the funds meant for the Scheduled Castes community were diverted for other schemes. But the NGO has alleged that the Delhi government used the fund “illegally”.
The alleged diversion has been made from the central government’s Schedule Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP), the guidelines of which mention that states have to allocate a certain amount for SCSP in their budget every year.
“In 2010-11, the Delhi government allocated Rs 1,901.56 crore under the SCSP, but it spent only Rs 197.63 crore. The rest of the money was diverted for projects that don’t directly benefit Scheduled Castes in the Capital,” said National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights’ convenor Paul Divakar.
The Delhi-based NGO, working for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, claimed to have taken the data from the Schedule Caste Sub-Plan Draft Annual Plan 2010-11 and Detailed Demand for Grants 2012-13 of the Delhi government.
The Schedule Caste Sub-Plan Draft Annual Plan 2010-11 was prepared by the department for the welfare of SC, ST, OBC and minorities of the Delhi government.
“The fund is meant exclusively for Scheduled Castes and the diversion is illegal as the infrastructure on which money has been spent is for general people and not exclusively for them (SC),” said Divakar.
According to the 2001 census, Delhi’s Scheduled Castes population is 23.43 lakh or 16.92 per cent of the Capital’s total population of 138.50 lakh.
Data available with Indo-Asian News Service showed that a whopping Rs 233 crore and Rs 181 crore were spent for city transportation and “new schemes” under the CWG 2010 respectively.
The fund — Rs 1,703.93 — was given for various projects under ‘indivisible funds’, which cannot be divided. According to SCSP implementation guidelines, there should be no division of the total Plan outlay into so-called divisible and non-divisible areas.
“There is no diversion of fund as a footbridge or roads built from that fund is being used by people belonging to Scheduled Castes too,” Dikshit said.
The data provided by the organisation suggests that over Rs 400 crore was spent in the health sector, including various hospitals “which don’t cater to Scheduled Castes exclusively.”
When IANS contacted Delhi minister of welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes Raj Kumar Chauhan, he said: “We cannot spend all the money on scholarships for Scheduled Caste students.”
“The roads built from that fund are also being used by Scheduled Castes people.
However, we will check,” he added.
While Rs 165.19 crore was diverted for sanitation and water supply, Rs 161 crore was used for education. As per the data, money has also been spent on housing, urban development, and employment and labour, which the NGO claimed are not exclusively for Scheduled Castes.
“If this is the case, then it is illegal as the fund under SCSP cannot be diverted. They have to be used only for special programmes for Scheduled Castes,” said T Theethan, joint secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Castes under the union ministry of social justice and empowerment.