Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi N.V.N. Somu on Tuesday questioned the non-allocation of funds in the recent Union budget for a scheme that helped reduce the school dropout rate among girls from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe communities.
During a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the budget allocation for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, she said the National Scheme for Incentive to Girl Child for Secondary Education (NSIGSE), which was in existence since 2008-09, had been discontinued without any explanation.
Under the scheme, a fixed deposit of ₹3,000 was made in the name of each beneficiary on her enrolment in Class 9. She will be able to withdraw the sum with interest after turning 18, provided she completed Class 10 and was unmarried. The MP asked whether the Union government carried out a proper assessment before discontinuing the scheme, particularly because the dropout rate among children from marginalised communities had increased during the pandemic.
She urged the Union government to clear the dues to the Tamil Nadu government under the post-matric and pre-matric scholarship schemes for students from marginalised communities.
She also questioned the basis for earmarking ₹50 crore for setting up a venture capital fund to promote entrepreneurship among ST communities and ₹75 crore for promoting entrepreneurship among the tribal population in the north-eastern States. She asked whether the government did a proper study before launching these initiatives as a similar scheme initiated for SC communities a few years ago remained underutilised. Moreover, she said COVID-19 had deeply affected small-scale entrepreneurs.
She appealed to the Union government to allocate more Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) for tribal children in Tamil Nadu. Seven schools under the scheme had been sanctioned to the State as of now, she said.
Tamil Nadu had been a pioneer in implementing schemes for the welfare of SC, ST communities. Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing Development Corporation was started by late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in 1974.
The Minister criticised the Union government for providing environmental clearances for several projects in the country, which required diversion of forest land, without consulting the tribal people through grama sabhas.
