National Confederation of Dalit Organization (NACDOR) is grieved to learn that Union Government failed to population proportionate allocation for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the interim budget.
The political parties are preparing for the General Election 2014 and the UPA lead government has presented the interim budget and there are different perspectives of it. Criticism on the budget of the beneficiaries from different social and political groups are obvious. These budgets requires to be also seen from the perspective of the schedules “Scheduled Castes (SC)” and “Scheduled Tribes (ST)”. The following table gives the figures at a glance.
SC Population – 16.6% ST Population – 8.6% (Census 2011)
Rs in Cr
| Particulars of Total Plan and Non-Plan budget | ||||
| Particular | 2012-13 (AE) | 2013-14 (BE) | 2013-14 (RE) | 2014-15 (BE) |
| Total Budget | 1410367 | 1665297 | 1590434 | 1763214 |
| Plan Budget | 413625 | 555322 | 475532 | 555322 |
| Non Plan Budget | 996742 | 1109975 | 1114902 | 1207892 |
| Particulars of allocation made under SCSP for Scheduled Castes | ||||
| Allocation under SCP | 28218.81 | 41561.13 | 35800.6 | 48638.31 |
| SCP in Percentage | 6.82 | 7.48 | 7.53 | 8.76 |
| Due SCP in percentage | 16.60 | 16.60 | 16.60 | 16.60 |
| Due SCP | 68661.75 | 92183.45 | 78938.31 | 92183.45 |
| Denial under SCP | 40442.94 | 50622.32 | 43137.71 | 43545.14 |
| Particulars of allocation made under TSP for Scheduled Tribes | ||||
| Allocation under TSP | 16723.73 | 24598.39 | 22030.47 | 30726.07 |
| TSP in Percentage | 4.04 | 4.43 | 4.63 | 5.53 |
| Dues TSP in Percentage | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.6 |
| Due TSP | 35571.75 | 47757.69 | 40895.75 | 47757.69 |
| Denial under TSP | 18848.02 | 23159.30 | 18865.28 | 17031.62 |
| Particulars of allocation made under SCSP and TSP together | ||||
| Allocation under SCSP and TSP | 44942.54 | 66159.52 | 57831.07 | 79364.38 |
| Due under SCSP and TSP | 104233.50 | 139941.14 | 119834.06 | 139941.14 |
| Denied under SCP and TSP | 59290.96 | 73781.62 | 62002.99 | 60576.76 |
Once again the UPA Led by Congress has disappointed the Dalits and Adivasi in the budgetary allocations and expenditures; as follows:
1. Rs. 60,576 Cr has been denied to SC/ST in the current budget. It is the normal trend of Union Government as seen in the table.
2. It has tried to satisfy the SC/ST only by a partial allocation i.e. 8.76% (Rs. 48638 Cr) for SC and 5.53% (Rs. 30726 Cr) for ST. Whereas decision of National Development Council (NDC) mandates population proportionate allocation for SC/ST
3. Government has changed the nomenclature of “Special Component Plan (SCP)” to “Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP)” in the budget document. It seems that the Union Government intends to confuse targeted population in different nomenclatures.
4. Union Government is alluring SC/ST with proposed bill on SCSP/TSP – to legitimize the present way of allocations and expenditure
Fiscal Deficit and Subsidy Provisions for Corporate Sectors
On the other hand the UPA Led Congress has shown its commitment to the corporate sectors by way giving more without any hesitation. Following table gives an idea about it.
| Particular | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
| Borrowings and Liabilities (=Fiscal Deficit) | 515990 | 513590 |
| Interest Payment | 273150 | 319759 |
| Revenue Foregone | 533582 | 573626 |
| Revenue foregone to number of companies | 459270 | 494545 |
The figures shown in the table are taken from the budget documents. These are the estimated figures but give clear picture how much the UPA government is paying to corporate sector. The Fiscal deficit is basically due to the revenue foregone i.e. subsidies to the profit making corporate sectors. Due to fiscal deficit the government has to borrow the money and pay the interest thereon. The annual interest payment is more than half of the annual plan budget. The entire country is paying interest because the government want to benefit corporates doing the business of Gold, Jewellery, Real Estate, Oil, Gas, etc. We can see that the government has annual Plan Size of Rs. 555322 Cr for the Year 2014-15. On the other hand in the year 2012-13 the Revenue Forgone to 494545 companies is Rs. 573626 Cr; which is higher than the budgeted plan size. The figures of Revenue forgone for rest of the years are not available but they are estimated be higher. It clearly means that for the Government, people are of least importance and the government is committed for the corporate Sectors only.
Scheme wise Denial for SC/ST
Deepening further into the kind of allocations made for the SC/ST, we see many glaring examples. Few examples are taken from the SCSP
1. Prevention of Atrocities Act – Budget has been reduced from Rs. 130 Cr (2013-14 – Revised Estimate) to Rs. 90 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate)
2. Post Metric Scholarship – Budget has been reduced from Rs. 1908 Cr (2013-14 – Revised Estimate) to Rs. 1500 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate)
3. Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has closed 22 schemes and added 9 new schemes reduced the budget from Rs. 1929 Cr (2013-14 – Revised Estimate) to Rs. 1888 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate)
4. Department of Commerce has allocated Rs. 100 Cr for the Tea Board, Coffee Board, rubber board and Spices without making any provision for reservation in these boards.
5. Department of Electronics and Information Technology has reduced the Budget from Rs. 21 Cr (2013-14 – Budget Estimate) to Rs. 10 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate) for e-governance.
6. University Grant Commission has reduced budget from Rs. 868 Cr (2013-14 – Budget Estimate) to Rs. 598 Cr in 2014-15 (Budget Estimate)
These are the few examples to show the kind of allocation made by the government lead by UPA. Atrocities are increasing day by day, numbers of students are also increasing but the government is committed to despise them by and by in slow degree. Same is the case for Scheduled Tribes.
Schemes violating the mandates of SCSP/TSP
There are certain area where the allocations for SC/ST are relatively better. But these schemes are popularly known for the larger chunk of corruption. For example
| Scheme Name | 2012-13 (AE) | 2013-14 (BE) | 2013-14 (RE) | 2014-15 (BE) |
| Schemes Wise allocation /Expenditures under SCSP for SCs | ||||
| Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) | 3469.87 | 3849 | 3849 | 4000 |
| National Programme of Nutrition Support to Primary Education (Mid Day Meal Scheme) | 2143.94 | 2643 | 2442.84 | 2651 |
| Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan | 4776.78 | |||
