No statue-tory provision in Mayawati's budget
Deepak Gidwani / DNA
Friday, February 5, 2010 0:11 IST
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati used the 2010-11 state
budget presented in the vidhan sabha on Thursday to boost her Dalit
agenda. The BSP regime has earmarked nearly Rs10,000 crore for the
welfare of scheduled castes (SCs), which is the biggest such one-time
allocation by any government in the state.
Finance minister Lalji Verma announced that Rs9,099.75 crore had been
budgeted under the special component plan (SCP), meant for the welfare
of SCs. The minister announced a clutch of schemes aimed at the
welfare of Dalits and the poor and deprived people belonging to other
castes and minorities.
Interestingly, not a single rupee has been provided for the
construction of parks, memorials and statues, which have been an
obsession with Mayawati. She was apparently held back by the stringent
view the Supreme Court has taken of the thousands of crores already
spent on erecting monuments to Dalit leaders.
Political compulsions linked to the next assembly elections scheduled
in 2012 seem to have driven Mayawati to shed all inhibitions and
openly pursue her policy according the highest priority to Dalits.
This approach had been diluted since the 2007 assembly election as
Brahmins were given prime positions in the ministry and in the BSP
organisation.
However, with the Congress gaining ground in UP, the BSP seems to have
returned to its original strategy. The new schemes announced in the
budget also indicate that apart from Dalits, most backward castes,
minorities and poor upper castes are also very much on Mayawati's
political radar.
The budget provides for a new scheme — the Mahamaya Garib Arthik Madad
Yojna — under which all below-poverty-line (BPL) families not
benefiting under any other subsidised foodgrains or pension scheme
would get a monthly grant of Rs300. An amount of Rs402 crore has been
allocated for this.
The state government would also reimburse scholarship/fees of about
2.20 crore pre-10th standard and post-10th standard students from
backward classes, at a cost of Rs1,045 crore. Besides, there are
special schemes for the education and marriage of girls from poor
families, especially those belonging to minorities and backward
classes.
Where welfare schemes are concerned, even a huge fiscal deficit of
Rs22,742.49 crore does not seem to have prevented the Dalit leader
from widening her wallet.
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