Swaraj India, the political party led by Yogendra Yadav, joined a coalition of Dalit organisations in questioning the Karnataka government for reducing the allocation for the welfare of Dalits under the SCSP/TSP Act in the state budget announced on Friday, March 4. A spokesperson for the party stated that the sub-plans under the SCSP/TSP Act should be implemented properly and the allocation for the welfare of Dalits, which was diverted during the pandemic for other schemes, should be increased to Rs 30,000 crore again.
The Karnataka Scheduled Castes Sub-Allocation and Tribal-Sub Allocation (Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Financial Resources) Act (SCSP/TSP), 2013 was enacted to ensure the allocation of budget in proportion to the SC/ST population in the state.
“The erstwhile Siddaramaiah government had allocated Rs 30,000 crores in the 2017-18 Karnataka budget towards the welfare of the Dalits under the SCSP/TSP Act, which is in proportion to the Dalit population of the state,” Veena S, Swaraj India’s Bengaluru Urban District unit president, said.
She said that the budget meant for Dalit welfare was diverted to other schemes. “For the past two years, the BJP government has allocated only Rs 25,000 crore per year in the budget for Dalits, while the rest was diverted to other schemes in the name of COVID-19, ring roads, etc,” Veena said.
This year, the state government has allocated Rs 28,234 crore under the SCSP/TSP budget, an increase over the previous allocation. “Salary and administrative expenditure of Rs 598 crore has been excluded from the SCSP/TSP budget. Our government is committed to further strengthen the implementation of SCSP/TSP scheme,” the 2022-23 state budget document reads.
“This government seems to be anti-Dalit and anti-social justice. Swaraj India stands in solidarity with the Dalit community and we strongly demand that the government allocate sufficient funds for implementing the sub plans,” Veena added.
Swaraj India called for more funds to be allocated for Dalits through the SCSP/TSP Act and for the diversion of funds to other schemes to be stopped. It also called for the scholarship amount due to Dalit students to be released immediately.
A protest was held in Bengaluru on Thursday by the Dha. Sam. Sa Okkoota, a coalition of Dalit Sangharsha Samithi sanghatans, demanding proper implementation of the sub-plans under SCSP/TSP Act.