Infrastructure gets a lion's share in SC/ST funds

Karnataka will pump over Rs 11,400 crore of its SC/ST funds into eight key departments, including irrigation and energy, to push infrastructure development this financial year.

These are funds under the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCSP-TSP) that have a total of Rs 26,005 crore this year.

Of this, Rs 11,480 crore or 44 per cent will go to major irrigation, minor irrigation, energy, public works, urban development, housing, programme monitoring and rural development & panchayat raj (RDPR) departments.

The next highest allocation is for the welfare sector comprising health, education, women & child development, social welfare and transport departments that have received Rs 8.933.18 crore or 34.35 per cent of the total sub-plan funds.

In effect, the SCSP-TSP have been distributed into six sectors, just like in Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s budget.

In 2013, Karnataka enacted the Karnataka Scheduled Castes Sub Plan and Tribal Sub Plan (Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Financial Resources) Act, 2013, making it the second state after Andhra Pradesh to introduce a law that mandates spending public money for SC/STs. Under the law, the government has to spend 24.1 per cent of its total budget on SC/ST welfare; that is 17.15 per cent for SCs and 6.95 per cent for STs.

The SCSP-TSP funds are also a way for the government to take up infrastructure projects without worrying about mobilising resources.

“Wherever we do roads, for example, we will choose places that have a substantial SC/ST population of at least 40 per cent,” RDPR principal secretary L K Atheeq said. His department has Rs 3,134 crore under SCSP-TSP this year.

The RDPR department is looking to use the SCSP-TSP money in the Pavagada multi-village water supply scheme project that costs Rs 2,400 crore. “The project passes through several SC/ST reserve constituencies. That’s how the project has been designed,” Atheeq said.

The same argument is used by other departments involved in infrastructure creation. They say their projects are used by SC/ST population, justifying such spending.

The government has asked departments to track and report the number of SC/ST beneficiaries covered with the sub-plans money.

Also this year, SC/ST farmers will get some new sops under the sub-plans. The animal husbandry department will provide 90 per cent financial assistance on purchasing motorized milking machines. Milk producers will get 75 per cent assistance on cow/buffalo units.

Similarly, the cooperation department will provide SC/ST farmers 50 per cent assistance to pay rent to warehouses where they store their agricultural commodities.