Social welfare dept: Modest allocations, but highly influential

The Social Welfare department appears to be in a buoyant mood ahead of the budget. The likely allocation is only Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 8,000 crore. But officials in the department said that their sphere of influence will extend to projects worth over a whopping Rs 50,000 crore. The department is expected to have a say in schemes for the SC/STs, up to the tune of 24.1 per cent of the total budgetary allocations in the coming financial year.

Under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (Planing, Allocation and Utilization of Financial Resources) Act of 2013, the State has already received plans for a whopping Rs 50,834 crore. Under the Act, all 33 major government departments will seek the assent of the Social Welfare department before implementing programmes for SC/STs.

While the allocations for the various projects will be made under the individual departments, the Social Welfare department will have an influence over the projects.
Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya said that his department was optimistic about the budget. “With 24.1 per cent of the total planned budget to be allocated towards SC/ST welfare, we are expecting a number of schemes to be undertaken,” he said.

The department has already vetted several of the projects, proposed by different departments to benefit SC/STs “The projects will be implemented by individual departments, only after they are vetted by Social Welfare department. We are just the nodal agency which will be looking at the schemes and ensuring that there are no overlapping schemes by other departments,” said Social Welfare department principal secretary Manjunath Prasad, downplaying the influence of his department. Sources said that the department was hoping to centralise even the allocations under the Social Welfare department, but the proposal is yet to be ratified by the chief minister.

On its own, the department is looking to add housing schemes for SC/ST beneficiaries to its list of programmes. Sources said that the housing scheme will create layouts for the SC/ST population in the State. It is said the department is seeking to introduce independent housing, rather than multi-storey constructions.