In the 2023 Assembly elections Congress party under the able leadership of Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar romped home with a brute majority garnering 135 out of 222 seats. After overcoming initial hiccups in managing differing voices the Siddaramiah government could establish a so-called pro-people government with five guarantees being the major administrative plank. It is noteworthy that the present government should be more thankful to the subaltern and minority communities for its triumph against all odds. In particular the Dalit community, a majority of them, stood solidly behind the Congress party and was instrumental in bringing a secular pro-people government in the state.
But despite all its pro-people policies reflected through its guarantee schemes, the Siddaramaiah government is facing the wrath of these same communities, though for quite different reasons, if not absolutely wrong ones. The heavy burden of the five guarantees on the exchequer has become a bone of contention within the government, with a section of the party in a defiant mode, expressing withdrawal of these guarantees. Though the Siddaramaiah government is firm in its commitment to the schemes, it has drawn peoples’ ire, specially the Dalits, by resorting to deviation of funds earmarked for the welfare of SC/ST communities and utilising it for guarantee schemes.
The government was accused of deviating Rs. 14.730.53 crore rupees out of funds from SCSP-TSP scheme and utilising it for guarantee schemes. As per government records ₹ 7,881.91 crore for the ‘Gruhalakshmi’ scheme, ₹70.28 crore for the ‘Bhagyalakshmi’ scheme, ₹2,585.93 crore for the ‘Gruhajyoti’ scheme, ₹448.15 crore for the ‘Annabhagya’ scheme, ₹2,187 crore for the direct benefit transfer of the ‘Annabhagya’ scheme, ₹1,451.45 crore for the ‘Shakti’ scheme, and ₹175.50 crore for the ‘Yuva Nidhi’ scheme is met out of these diverted funds. Earlier the government, in its annual budget, had earmarked ₹ 27,673.96 crores under the SCSP-TSP scheme. Now more than half of that has been syphoned off, much to the dissatisfaction of these eligible communities.
Earlier in the year the Siddaramiah government drew wide applause from SC/ST orgnanisations for scrapping Section 7(D) of the Karnataka Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Financial Resources) Act 2013, which allowed a certain amount of money to be used in exceptional cases on works that cannot be divided and considered such expenditure as “deemed expenditure.” But under the same Act the government has found its way through, to utilise a part of the allocation for other purposes As per government’s clarification. sections 7(a), (b), and (c) of the SCSP TSP Act allow for a portion of the funds to be allocated for specific developmental projects for SC and ST communities. This practice has been implemented in the past, exemplified by initiatives like the Bhagyalakshmi scheme, which provides insurance for girl children and free bicycles for girl students. This has brewed a controversy in political circles, progressive groups , as well amongst the SC/ST communities, who feel deprived of their constitutional right. Though the Government of the day has a right to utilise such funds for productive purposes, the fact that over the years successive governments have failed to implement SCSP/TSP Act in right earnest for the development of really deprived masses among these communities is a point to be reckoned with. Though the State has evolved many schemes to reach out to the masses, it has failed to reach the bottom of the social pyramid, where lies absolute poverty, homelessness, malnutrition, and unemployment.
The act specifies in clear terms the purpose of the whole scheme and more importantly it is mandated to monitor issues pertaining to the development of Scheduled Castes in state, specially with reference to the Special Component Plan (SCP) and Special Central Assisatance (SCA), in pursuance of power conferred upon it under Article 338 of the constitution. In the light of this provision the National Commission of Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has taken suo-moto congnisance of the issue and has demanded an explanation from the Government of Karnataka.
The Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar has defended his government’s action bluntly stating that “Whatever money we are spending is being spent for the same community, as per the law. After Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, we introduced the law in order to use the funds for the welfare of the SC/ST communities. What is wrong with it? ” With the controversial Valmiki ST Welfare Board scam involving ₹ 187 crores the Government is certainly on the backfoot, being pushed to the wall, by the very same masses who voted it to power in 2023.
It is nobody’s take that a government should not use its own allocated funds in implementing many social welfare measures, catering to all the communities. But the point to be pondered over is its approach towards those marginalised communities, within and without SC/ST masses. There are some subaltern communities, specially in the northern Karnataka and the Tribal areas who are still deprived of basic necessities of life like Education, Health care and whatnot. Unless the governance addresses the vital livelihood issues confronted by these oppressed masses, it can not claim a moral right to divert funds earmarked for the development of these masses, for any other purpose, whatever may be the noble reasons behind it.
It is in this respect the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah is on its wrong foot, obviously arousing passionate anger amongst the deprived masses. Though the Congress government, per se, works under the clouds of neo-liberal macroeconomic policies, its posture as a Socialist one, brings into question the very economic policies pursued. The welfare measures under a capitalist economy may address the livelihood issues of the downtrodden but will not alleviate their poverty and deprivation in toto. All the opposition to the deviation of funds manifested out in the public, should be viewed in this perspective.
