Karnataka Budget 2026-27 | State Govt allocates Rs 15,066 crore for guarantees from SCSP/TSP

Opposition parties, Dalit and progressive groups have criticised the move.

Bengaluru: Amid backlash against using the funds under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCSP/TSP) Act for the guarantees, the government has allotted Rs 15,066.46 crore out of the Rs 44,632 crore (33.75 per cent) Budgetary outlay for guarantees.

Of the Rs 15,066.46 crore, Rs 10,789.58 crore has been apportioned from the SCSP share, while Rs 4,276.88 crore has been allotted from the TSP fund.

This marks the fourth consecutive Budget since the Congress came to power in 2023, during which the SCSP/TSP funds have been used for the guarantee schemes.

Of the five flagship guarantees, the Gruha Lakshmi got the biggest share of the pie from the SCSP/TSP kitty (9,193.85 crore), followed by Gruha Jyothi (Rs 2591.61 crore), Anna Bhagya (Rs 1,612 crore), Shakti scheme (Rs 1,537 crore) and Yuva Nidhi scheme (Rs 162 crore).

Even though the government has increased allocation under SCSP/TSP — Rs 42,018 crore has been increased to Rs 44,632 crore — the share of the amount going to guarantees has increased by Rs 1,632.62 crore (Rs 13,433.84 crore to Rs 15,066.46 crore).

The SCSP/TSP Act, which was enacted in 2013 during Siddaramaiah’s first term as the chief minister, mandates allocating 24.1 per cent of the state plan outlay (population per cent of SC and STs as per the 2011 census).

Though section 7C of the Act allows allocation of funds from the SCSP/TSP corpus for general sector schemes like education, health and guarantees, the spirit of the Act dictates expenditure only for asset creation and capacity building of SC/STs.

The propriety of using SCSP/TSP funds for guarantees has been one of the most contentious political debates for almost three years. The opposition BJP-JD(S) combine, Dalit organisations and progressive forces have criticised the move.

Even within the Congress, Dalit legislators and leaders are said to be miffed with the practice, and have urged the chief minister to scrap section 7C.

While the BJP has slammed the Congress for “diverting” SCSP/TSP funds for guarantees, the Congress has defended the move as legal under the Act. The Congress has also scored brownie points by arguing that it was the Siddaramaiah-led Congress that brought the Act, and that no other BJP-ruled state in the country has ever enacted such a law.

The Congress has also accused the BJP of "misusing" the now-scrapped Section 7D of the Act, which provided for deemed expenditure on infrastructure projects.