Minister for Social Welfare H.C. Mahadevappa on Sunday ruled out the possibility of misuse of Special Component Plan (SCP) for development of Scheduled Castes and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) for development of Scheduled Tribes.
“The question of misuse of SCP&TSP funds does not arise,” he said while speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Sunday.
He said legislation on SCP&TSP was enacted in 2014-15 to ensure that funds were allocated in the Budget to SCs and STs in proportion to their population after the Siddaramaiah government came to power in 2013.
While 17.15 per cent of the Budget’s plan size was earmarked for SCs, another 6.95 per cent was set aside for STs. Hence, a total of 24.10 per cent of the State’s Budget’s plan size was earmarked for SCs and STs, which had taken the amount spent on development of SCs and STs from around ₹6,000 to ₹8,000 crore per year to as much as ₹88,000 crore during the five years of Congress rule from 2013 to 2018, he claimed.
In contrast, the BJP government, which came to power in the State during 2019, began using the SCP&TSP funds for other works as “deemed expenditure” by exploiting the provision under Section 7 (D) of SCP&TSP Act. About ₹10,000 crore from Public Works, Minor Irrigation, Urban Development etc. had been diverted from the SCP&TSP funds during the BJP rule, he claimed.
But, Mr. Mahadevappa claimed that the Congress government after coming to power had scrapped the Section 7 (D) that allowed certain amount of money to be used for other works in exceptional cases. “We have removed the provision and we will not allow the diversion of SCP and TSP funds for other purposes.
“There is no question of misusing SCP&TSP funds”, he clarified.
