Minister for Social Welfare Meruga Nagarjuna has said that not even a single rupee from the SC/ST Sub-plan funds would be spent on purposes other than the welfare of SC and ST communities.
The Minister was reviewing the allocations made under the SC and ST Sub-plan at the Secretariat near here on Thursday.
“The onus of spending money allocated under the SC and ST Sub-plan rests on the department. We know that the financial grants allocated in one year cannot be transferred to the next year and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has made it clear that the entire money allocated to the sub-plan should be spent on the beneficiaries belonging to the SC/ST communities only,” said Mr. Nagarjuna.
The Minister gave a break-up of the funds allocated under the sub-plan — ₹15,000 crore in 2019-20, ₹15,735 crore in 2020-21 and ₹17,403 crore during 2021-22.
The funds should be used to improve the basic amenities in SC/ST colonies like drinking water, roads and drainage . However, the works allotted under sub-plan should be sent to nodal agencies or else audit objections could crop up, he said.
Secretary, Social Welfare, M.M. Nayak, director Harsh Vardhan, MD, Swachhandhra Corporation Sampath Kumar and others were present.
