Union budget's 'new way' of sidelining social justice: Govt 'against' empowering SCs, STs

By Umesh Babu*

The Union budget of the year 2024-25 is Rs. 48,20,512 crore out of which only Rs. 1,65,493 crore (3.43%) against the due Rs 7,95,384 crore is allocated for Scheduled Caste and only Rs. 1,32,214 crore (2.74 %) for Scheduled Tribes against the due amount of Rs. 3,95,281 crore as per Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) of 1975 and 1979. The Union budget grossly failed to allocate the budget as per the policy and it shows that the Union government is totally against the due empowerment of SCs and STs.

The money for direct benefit schemes for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is blatantly diverted to corporate. In this union budget, the Centre government siphoned the budget to irrelevant sectors (against the mandate of SCSP and TSP) like telecommunication, semiconductor, large-scale electronics, and transport industries, fertilizer import, chemical productions etc. from the SC/ST fund. We are highlighting a few of the examples that show how blatantly the government has diverted the budget and violated the Indian Constitution.

Reality of caste-based inequalities: Negligible budget to rehabilitate manual scavengers and their families

No budget allocated for the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) in the last two financial years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.
Shockingly low amount of Rs. 1 lakh for the entire year 2024-25 to National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC), agency responsible for financing loans and providing financial assistance to the Safai Karamcharis across India.
In 2022-2023 the Union budget allocated for SRMS was 70 crores out of which only 11.1 crore was utilized with a lapse of about 58.9 crore. A similar lapse of more than 50% of the budget can be seen from the year 2020 onwards.
Huge budget of Rs 236.99 crore is given to schemes like National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) which is a token arrangement to give money to corporations without rehabilitating existing manual scavengers.

Diverting SC/ST budget to corporates: Dalits and Adivasis unlikely beneficiaries

Allocated Rs. 1,543 crore from SC fund and Rs. 597 Cr from ST fund amounting to a total of Rs. 2,140 crore from the SC/ST welfare fund for schemes like Compensation to Service Providers for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure.
The Modified Program for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India diverts Rs. 573 crore from SC fund and Rs. 462 crore from ST fund with a total Rs. 1,035 crore.
Rs. 508 crore from SC fund and Rs. 410 crore from ST fund diverted to large scale manufacturing companies under Production linked Incentive for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing.
A grand total of Rs. 22,052.15 crore given to importers and manufacturers which has no relation to development of SCs/STs through schemes like Subsidy for Import and Indigenous Manufacturing of Urea and Other Fertilizers Phosphorus and Potassium”. Rs. 14,356 crore diverted from SC fund and Rs. 7,696.15 Cr diverted from the ST fund.

Schemes like VISVAS, NAMASTE, SEEDS, PM DAKSH Yojana, SHREYAS, SMILE are only fairy tales of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman. We are shocked to see that there is no budget allocation for the Development Action Plan for SCs, with no way to plan and implement the schemes. While there was expectation of a new scheme for the protection and livelihood of Dalit and Adivasi women from the finance minister, it is shocking that no scheme has been introduced for their benefit in the new budget.

On behalf of Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) and People’s Media Advocacy and Research Centre (PMARC), Sewerage and Allied Workers Forum (SSKM), Indian Sanitation Studies Collective (ISSC) we request the Government of India to take strong action and allocate the budget as per the SCSP and TSP.

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*Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM)

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