RDPR and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge at the Legislative Assembly session in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Terming the allegations of the Opposition BJP that the Congress government had illegally diverted and misused the funds meant for the welfare of Dalits under SCSP-TSP as “false and misleading”, RDPR and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday made clear that these funds had been “legally” transferred to guarantee schemes for “exclusive” use of SC/ST beneficiaries in proportion to their population size. These funds will never be used for beneficiaries of other communities, he asserted.

“The Congress government has allocated funds for guarantee schemes under SCSP-TSP in proportion to the population of beneficiaries in these categories. This is as per Section 7C of the SCSP-TSP Act, which allows allocations for general social sector schemes in proportion to the SC/ST population. The funds allocated for guarantee schemes (general social sector scheme) under SCSP-TSP have been spent exclusively on beneficiaries from SC/ST communities and have not been used for any other communities,” Mr. Priyank told a press conference in Bengaluru.

He termed the BJP’s campaign against the Congress government with respect to transfer of funds meant for Dalits welfare as “false and malicious”. Launching a counter attack, he said it was the erstwhile BJP government which had illegally diverted funds meant for welfare of SC/STs to general schemes, urging the BJP to clarify on this.

He accused the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre of dismantling the legally binding SCSP/TSP framework at the Union government level, replacing it with a “weaker, discretionary system” that allows fund diversion and reduces financial commitment to SC/ST communities. He wondered if the Karnataka BJP leaders would take up a Delhi Chalo protest to urge the Centre to restore the legally binding SCSP/TSP framework at the Centre.

Break up of population

Giving the break-up of transfer of funds in Karnataka, Mr. Priyank said ₹5,546.53 crore and ₹2,335.38 crore had been transferred from SCSP and TSP, respectively, to the Gruha Lakshmi scheme to fund 22,45,391 SC beneficiaries and 8,66,983 ST beneficiaries.

Similarly, ₹1,539.18 crore (SCSP) and ₹648.41 crore (TSP) had been transferred to Anna Bhagya scheme to fund 59,15,002 SC and 25,90,678 ST beneficiaries. And ₹1,770.45 crore (SCSP) and ₹815.48 crore (TSP) had been transferred to Gruhajyothi scheme to fund 9,86,000 SC and 4,04,000 ST beneficiaries, he pointed out.

As it was not possible to ascertain the number of SC/ST beneficiaries availing the free bus travel under Shakti scheme, the government had allocated 25% of funds in accordance with their population, he said. In all, a sum of ₹9,980.66 crore (SCSP) and ₹4,301.72 crore (TSP) had been used under guarantee schemes to fund 13,90,000 SC/ST beneficiaries, he said.

‘BJP did illegal diversions’

Mr. Priyank alleged that the erstwhile BJP government had actually illegally diverted ₹6,021 crore from SCSP-TSP for infrastructure, irrigation, and RDPR departments’ schemes for general use from 2019 to 2023.

It had also used the SCSP-TSP funds for schemes like PM Fasal Bima Yojana, PM Krishi Samman Scheme, PM Krishi Sinchai Scheme, and National Horticulture Mission, among others. As per the annual report of SCSP/TSP for the 2022-23, ₹376.90 crore was spend under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana and ₹129.73 crore was spend under the PM Krishi Samman Scheme, he alleged. Similarly ₹182.23 crore was spent under the PM Krishi Sinchai Scheme and ₹30.86 crore was spend under the NHM, he said.