BJP to oppose 'communal’ budgeting at NDC meeting

NEW DELHI: Continuing its attack on the Manmohan Singh government for pursisting with its “minority appeasement” plank, the BJP on Tuesday warned that it would use the National Development Council platform to resist any move to inorporate communal budgeting in the plan process in general and, in particular, the 11th Five Year Plan.

Ahead of the meeting of the NDC on Wednesday to approve the 11th Five Year Plan, the party warned that any plan — overt or covert — to incorporate communal agenda in the budgeting process of national planning will be opposed by all BJP-ruled states.

The draft plan suggests that in line with the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme “wherever possible, 15% of targets and outlays under various schemes will be earmarked for minorities”. The UPA government has been under pressure from its allies and the Left to implement the recommendations of the Sachar Committee.

The Eleventh plan provides the government an ideal platform to silence its critics on this count. However, the BJP maintains that UPA government is adopting this approach to deflect attention from its faliure on issues of governance and achieving national priorities.

BJP president Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said, “It is indeed unfortunate that under the Congress-led UPA government, a critical vision document that sets the tone and direction for national growth and development for the next five years, is now being treated as a tool of political appeasement.” Further that such approach would “only accentuate the competitive and communal politics of appeasement”, he said

The lead Opposition party is of the view that the introduction of a mandatory 15% spend on minorities would impact the process of providing a holistic development approach for the nation. Such an exercise, the BJP says, will “give fillip to competitive communal demands for budgetary allocations and in the process the holistic approach to national development would become a casualty”.

The BJP said that given the questions being raised on the inputs and data used by the Sachar Committee, an “undue haste” in adopting religion-based approach to national budgeting was not desirable. Mr Singh said that such an approach was unconstitutional. The party said that it holds the view that every segment of society, irrespective of religion, caste, creed or class, must become equitable partners and beneficiaries of national growth and prosperity. Something that would not be possible if communal budgeting were to be introduced.

Meanwhile, deputy chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has denied the BJP’s allegation. Mr Ahluwalia said that the Eleventh plan would have some basic structural changes, and that every model is designed to promote competition among the stakeholders. He maintained that the Plan was focused on equalising access for the scheduled castes and tribes, addressing the gender divide and needs of minorities.