Karnataka to use Rs 11,000 crore from SC/ST welfare fund to fulfil poll guarantees

The Karnataka government has decided to use over Rs 11,000 crore from funds meant for SC/ST welfare to implement the Congress' five guarantees.

This was finalised at a meeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah chaired to approve an action plan worth Rs 34,293.69 crore under the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCSP-TSP), which mandate spending on SC/ST welfare.

The BJP had accused the Congress government of 'diverting' the SC/ST sub-plans money to implement the five guarantees.

Briefing reporters, Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa initially denied the allegation as "baseless". However, he came around and said Rs 11,000 crore under the sub-plans has been earmarked for the five guarantees.

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"We have allocated Rs 7,700 crore under SCSP and Rs 3,430 crore under TSP for the five guarantees," Mahadevappa said.

The government plans to justify the use of the sub-plans money for guarantees by marking out the number of SC/ST beneficiaries. "We have asked departments to give details on how many SC/ST people will get benefitted under the guarantees," Mahadevappa said.

The minister cited the example of the Shakti scheme of free bus travel for women. "We don't know how many (SC/STs) will take buses. If one (woman) travels 30 times, we'll have to give more money," he said.

The Congress' five guarantees are estimated to cost Rs 52,000 crore every year.

The Karnataka Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Financial Resources) Act requires the government to spend 24.1% of its total budget on SC/ST welfare.

Mahadevappa specified that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has "clearly instructed" that any excess allocation under the sub-plans for the five guarantees must be returned to the social welfare department.

The size of the 2023-24 budget is Rs 3.28 lakh crore. Of this, Rs 1.42 lakh crore is earmarked for development of which 24.1% - Rs 34,221.49 crore - is set aside for SC/STs. Unused funds of Rs 72.70 crore from last year have been added to the kitty. The SCs will get Rs 24,333 crore and STs Rs 9,961 crore.

In a statement, Siddaramaiah said all departments have been asked to submit reports on the impact the SCSP-TSP funds have had on beneficiaries.

Slamming the previous BJP government, Mahadevappa said Rs 10,000 crore from the sub-plans was diverted under the 'deemed expenditure' clause. "This time, in the budget, CM has removed this clause," he said.