<p>Bengaluru: The Siddaramaiah administration approved on Friday an action plan worth Rs 39,121.46 crore for SC/ST welfare, of which 37 per cent will be used to fund the Congress’ flagship guarantee schemes this fiscal. </p>.<p>State law requires the government to spend 24.1 per cent of the total allocable budget on SC/ST welfare.</p>.<p>The government has earmarked Rs 27,673.96 crore under the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Rs 11,447.51 crore under the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) this fiscal. </p>.Congress leader says Karnataka's hike in taxes for development, not for guarantee schemes.<p>The guarantee schemes will get Rs 14,730.53 crore from the SC/ST sub-plans money. </p>.<p>Siddaramaiah said the money will be apportioned based on the number of SC/ST beneficiaries under the schemes. “Through guarantees, we’re providing benefits to SC/STs,” he said. </p>.<p>The Opposition BJP accused the Congress government of “swindling” money meant for Dalits. “If Babasaheb Ambedkar was alive, he’d have probably taken the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government to task,” Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka charged. </p>.<p>Siddaramaiah hit back at the BJP, while insisting that the sub-plans money will be spent on SC/STs. “Has any BJP-ruled state implemented this law? Has the Centre introduced this law? We’ve already done away with a provision under which money was ‘deemed’ to have been provided for SC/STs,” he said. </p>.<p>There are 1.3 crore SC/ST beneficiaries under the guarantee schemes, except Shakti (free bus travel for women) for which data is unavailable. </p>.<p>Karnataka was the second state after Andhra Pradesh to introduce the SC/ST sub-plans law in 2013. “We’ve been urging the Centre to introduce a similar law,” Siddaramaiah said. </p>.<p>Using the sub-plans money, the government has decided to hike the monthly financial assistance being given to SC/ST civil services aspirants from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. “We’ll also build a hostel with a quality library in New Delhi for SC/ST civil service aspirants,” Siddaramaiah said. </p>.<p>Siddaramaiah said the government estimates savings of Rs 1,327 crore under the sub-plans this fiscal. “There are suggestions that it should be used for slum development and the Kalyana Karnataka region. We’ve also decided to provide laptops to SC/ST postgraduate students. This will cost Rs 91 crore,” he said. </p>.<p>Also, this year, the government will start residential schools for SC/ST kids in 60 hoblis. “We’ve also decided that existing residential schools will have a reservation of 75% for local students and the remaining will be from other districts,” the CM said. </p>
<p>Bengaluru: The Siddaramaiah administration approved on Friday an action plan worth Rs 39,121.46 crore for SC/ST welfare, of which 37 per cent will be used to fund the Congress’ flagship guarantee schemes this fiscal. </p>.<p>State law requires the government to spend 24.1 per cent of the total allocable budget on SC/ST welfare.</p>.<p>The government has earmarked Rs 27,673.96 crore under the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Rs 11,447.51 crore under the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) this fiscal. </p>.Congress leader says Karnataka's hike in taxes for development, not for guarantee schemes.<p>The guarantee schemes will get Rs 14,730.53 crore from the SC/ST sub-plans money. </p>.<p>Siddaramaiah said the money will be apportioned based on the number of SC/ST beneficiaries under the schemes. “Through guarantees, we’re providing benefits to SC/STs,” he said. </p>.<p>The Opposition BJP accused the Congress government of “swindling” money meant for Dalits. “If Babasaheb Ambedkar was alive, he’d have probably taken the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government to task,” Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka charged. </p>.<p>Siddaramaiah hit back at the BJP, while insisting that the sub-plans money will be spent on SC/STs. “Has any BJP-ruled state implemented this law? Has the Centre introduced this law? We’ve already done away with a provision under which money was ‘deemed’ to have been provided for SC/STs,” he said. </p>.<p>There are 1.3 crore SC/ST beneficiaries under the guarantee schemes, except Shakti (free bus travel for women) for which data is unavailable. </p>.<p>Karnataka was the second state after Andhra Pradesh to introduce the SC/ST sub-plans law in 2013. “We’ve been urging the Centre to introduce a similar law,” Siddaramaiah said. </p>.<p>Using the sub-plans money, the government has decided to hike the monthly financial assistance being given to SC/ST civil services aspirants from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. “We’ll also build a hostel with a quality library in New Delhi for SC/ST civil service aspirants,” Siddaramaiah said. </p>.<p>Siddaramaiah said the government estimates savings of Rs 1,327 crore under the sub-plans this fiscal. “There are suggestions that it should be used for slum development and the Kalyana Karnataka region. We’ve also decided to provide laptops to SC/ST postgraduate students. This will cost Rs 91 crore,” he said. </p>.<p>Also, this year, the government will start residential schools for SC/ST kids in 60 hoblis. “We’ve also decided that existing residential schools will have a reservation of 75% for local students and the remaining will be from other districts,” the CM said. </p>