63% rise likely in allocation under Tribal and Scheduled Castes sub-plans

The Union government is all set to revamp the welfare programme for tribals and Scheduled Castes by drafting in more ministries to mandatorily earmark funds from their budget allocation. This will lead to a nearly 63% increase in annual allocation under Tribal and Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan to Rs 1.35 lakh crore from Rs 83,000 cr.

The government is pushing for not only an increase in the number of ministries earmarking a certain percentage of budget allocation for tribal and SC welfare but also an increase in this percentage to 12% on average from 8%, people aware of the matter said.

Each year, 26 ministries earmark 2-32% of budget allocation under Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and 32 ministries 2-20% of allocation under Tribal Sub Plan. This adds to Rs 83,363 crore of funds for ST and SC (Rs 53,000 crore under SCSP and Rs 30,000 crore under TSP) welfare with targeted schemes.

The government is now planning to increase the number of central ministries and departments earmarking these funds to about 50. “We are finalising the proposal to ensure almost all ministries ear-mark funds for SC and ST welfare,” said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified.

The move is significant since the government also plans to increase the percentage of funds earmarked for SCSP and TSP. At present, the departments earmark funds ranging between 2% and 20%, and in a few cases 32%.

While ministries such as that of home and external affairs do not have a direct responsibility, those of rural development and human resource development earmark as high as 20-32% of their budget allocation under SC sub plan. This is likely to go up with a higher number of schemes to be brought in the ambit.



Ministries with direct social welfare responsibilities could be asked to earmark 35% of their budget allocation.

The biggest problem being faced by the welfare scheme was the inability to spend earmarked funds. Many ministries even reported a lack of schemes to allocate funds. Earlier this year, the Prime Minister’s Office had put in place a new system to spendRs 83,000 cr. The monitoring is now being done through an integrated automated system.