Plan panel to inspect 'diversion' of SC/ST funds
Subodh Ghildiyal, TNN, Aug 5, 2010, 12.36am IST
NEW DELHI: As diversion of SC/ST welfare funds for Commonwealth Games
draws the ire of the political class, the Planning Commission has
called a meeting of NGOs to see instances of such diversions across
states.
The Plan panel will meet the voluntary organisations working for SCs
and STs around August 23 to get a first-hand knowledge of how states
had used money meant for dalit and tribal schemes to fund other
programmes.
It is part of a larger exercise undertaken by a Planning Commission
taskforce to make the subplans inviolable. The taskforce is headed by
Plan panel member Narendra Jadhav and comprises Union secretaries for
SC and ST welfare and secretaries of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and
Gujarat.
"We have asked NGOs working for SCs/STs to bring out instances of
diversion," a senior official said. The information about Delhi was
also exposed by volutary organisations HLRN and NCDHR.
The subplans, launched in 1975, stipulate that every Union ministry
will earmark 15% and 7.5% of its budget for SCs and STs, while states
will do it in proportion to their population.
The information that Delhi government had funnelled Rs 743 crore from
these subplans to fund CWG preparations has triggered a storm, with
the issue even hitting Rajya Sabha proceedings. It has startled more
as the expose has come amid charges of irregularities in the execution
of CWG projects.
A government expert said it was the first big evidence of diversion
from the subplans which are supposed to be non-lapsable and
non-divertible.
"The taskforce will draw up guidelines to ensure that the subplan
money cannot be taken out for other works," he said.
But the Delhi case apart, the practice of diversion is rampant. A
study found that 20% of Union ministries had implemented the subplans
while most states did not follow the guidelines and diverted the
money. The expenditure under the subplans is also low at 40 to 50%.
Besides seeking inputs from NGOs and discussing with states, the
taskforce will visit two backward districts -- possibly in Tamil Nadu
and Orissa -- to see implementation of subplans.
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