Siddaramaiah accuses BJP govt in Karnataka of betraying Dalits, STs

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 21 : Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday accused the BJP government in the state of betraying Dalits and scheduled tribes, by diverting the funds of Rs 7,885 crore meant for scheduled caste sub-plan (SCSP) and Tribal sub-plan (TSP), for the infrastructure projects.
"BJP government has betrayed Dalits and scheduled tribes by diverting the funds of scheduled caste sub-plan SCSP and tribal sub-plan funds for the infrastructure projects, which is against the provisions of the act," the Congress leader said in a statement.
The Congress leader alleged that the government has violated the provisions of the act to divert Rs 7885 crores for infrastructure development.
"Rs 26,695.64 crores were allocated for the welfare of SCs and STs under SCP-TSP act for the year 2021-22. The government has violated the provisions of the act to divert Rs 7885 crores for infrastructure development. This is against the law and I urge the Chief Minister of Karnataka to take action against the officers who have violated these provisions," said Siddaramaiah.
According to the SCP-TSP Act, which was enacted and implemented by the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah, 24.1 per cent of the budget has to be spent on the welfare of SCs and STs. "The unused funds should be carried over and spent during the next financial year," he added.
He said that if the funds allocated for a specific purpose under this act are not used for that purpose, the concerned officer can be punished as per the act.
Noting that Section 3 of the SCSP-TSP act has laid out criteria that have to be adopted to allocate State resources, the former Chief Minister said, this has prescribed conditions for 'exempted expenditure' which means expenditure exempted from the applicability of this act - exempted expenditure includes salary, salary Grant-in-aid, pension, administrative expenditure, principal repayment and interest payment on account of State government undertakings.
"Rs 7885.32 Cr of the total funds allocated to SCSP-TSP funds in four years between 2018 to 2021 were spent on irrigation, urban development and RDPR infrastructure projects. This has reduced the funds for welfare schemes for SCs and STs," the Congress leader said.
The Congress leader further said that though there are provisions to allocate some amount for general infrastructure projects, the quantum of funds diverted is huge and is against the law.
"In 2012-13, only Rs 7,200 crore was allocated to the welfare of SCs and STs. This was increased to Rs 15,832 crore by 2014-15. In the 2018 February budget Rs 29,691 crore was allocated for SCSP-TSP," he said while adding that since BJP came to power, the funds for SCSP-TSP are reduced, though the budget has increased.
"Between 2008-2009 to 2012-2013, 5 years of BJP government, about Rs 22,261 crore was allocated to SCP-TSP but between 2013-2018, we allocated about 88,395 crore in 5 years for SCSP-TSP," he added.