No funds for Delhi since 2014 for scheduled caste welfare schemes

NEW DELHI:  Delhi has not received funds under the scheme for special Central assistance to scheduled castes (SC) since 2014 from the Centre, shows a standing committee’s report on the assessment of the scheme tabled in Parliament. The standing committee has questioned the rationale of running the scheme if states with significant SC populations are not getting the funds.

The main aim of the scheme is to give a push to family-oriented schemes of economic development of SC populations living below the poverty line. While Bihar, Gujarat, Goa, Punjab and Maharashtra did not get any funds in 2017-18, Delhi and Uttarakhand did not receive funds from 2014 to 2018. 

Funds were not released by the Centre for Delhi because the state had failed to forward its utilisation certificates or annual action plan within the stipulated time limit. Developmental schemes for SC populations continue to be hit in Delhi and some states as the utilisation certificates were not provided. The committee has observed that states have often failed to provide timely utilisation certificates even for other welfare schemes. 

The defaulter states should submit these certificates at the earliest for the scheme to take off, the committee has said. The other reason for poor implementation of the scheme was weak scheduled caste corporations in states, the committee found. The state corporations play a key role in disbursing funds to the beneficiaries, which in turn helps in effective implementation of the scheme.  

The committee has recommended that the social justice and empowerment ministry strengthen the corporations by identifying the existing gaps. Under the scheme, a subsidy of a maximum of `10,000 for income-generating activities can be given to an SC beneficiary. Under the scheme, 15 per cent of the total Special Central Assistance (SCA) given to states and Union territories should be spent on income-generating schemes for SC women, and 5 per cent of the total SCA for the economic development of disabled persons belonging to the SC population.