Govt committed to take welfare schemes to last man: Poojary

In a bid to take the welfare schemes to the last man of society, the government has come up with many plans to bypass the middlemen by introducing director benefit transfer (DBT), linking the Aadhaar card of the beneficiaries with the schemes to stop duplication and more, said Social and Backward Classes Welfare Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary.

Poojary was speaking at a panel discussion on 'socially equitable welfare schemes and implementation' at the 'Nava Karnataka Summit' organised by Deccan Herald and Prajavani group here on Friday.

"The Gram panchayat members have been acting as a bridge between the government and the marginalised communities. They are being used to take the welfare schemes to the last man and bring to the notice of the government the problems of the suppressed communities," the minister said.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has increased the allocation for SC/ST welfare to Rs 30,000 crore, this time, he said.

He said, "There are enough funds with the department for mainstreaming the children from marginalised sections into formal education. We want to make them doctors, engineers and other professionals," the minister said.

Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University, Gadag, vice chancellor Prof Vishnukant Chatpalli said, "There is a mismatch in the execution of welfare programmes for the underprivileged classes, which needs to be fine-tuned," he said.

Ballari University vice-chancellor Prof M S Subhas said it is not possible to improve SC/ST communities by allocating just funds in the budget. Society has to be sensitised on social issues. "There is a need of working on mission mode and a clear target to achieve it, only then we can usher in change...," he said.

Karnatak University’s Dr B R Ambedkar Study Centre director C Subhashchandra Natikar also expressed his views on the topic.