‘TN fails SC/ST people by not utilising fund allocated under SCSP’

CHENNAI: BJP state president K Annamalai on Monday criticised the Tamil Nadu government for not utilising more than Rs 5,300 crore, which were earmarked under the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP), since the fiscal year 2016-2017.

Citing a news report in a daily newspaper based on information obtained under the RTI Act, the saffron party leader charged that the ruling party in the State had failed to use the fund for the upliftment of the SC/ST people. While Rs 2,900 crore remained unused during the AIADMK regime from 2016-2021, the present DMK government left Rs 2,418 crore unused in the last one year.

Going by the December 2022-2023 financial year data, the State government did not utilise Rs 10,466 crore out of Rs 16,442 crore.

"It is shocking," he said in a statement. The habitations of SC/ST were lacking basic amenities such as road, toilets, while the hostels run by the Adi Dravidar Welfare departments for the students were crying for attention. The scholarship for the SC/ST students were not disbursed properly, while schools operated for the communities did not have adequate teachers.

This shows the present government has been doing lip service under the guise of social justice, but it failed to work to implement several schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, he further said.