‘Dalits, tribal people being denied their due'

Speakers at a meeting convened by the Left parties here on Saturday on SC, ST Sub-Plans said that the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the State were still being subjected to social and government discrimination.

Respecting them properly was the prerequisite to the effective implementation of the SC, ST Sub-Plans effectively, they felt. The speakers suggested booking of criminal cases against the officials who fail to spend or divert the allocated funds of the Sub-Plans to bring some accountability.

State secretary of the CPI (M) B.V. Raghavulu said Dalits and tribal people were being deprived of even basic amenities as the government was not allocating the prescribed 26 per cent funds to SC/ST Sub-Plans. Even the allotted funds were not being spent and instead diverted to other programmes.

Insufficient allocation of funds and not spending even the lesser allocation was an insult to the government itself as it was a constitutional provision, State secretary of CPI K. Narayana said.

He suggested Dalits and tribal people to question their elected representatives and mount pressure on them to spend at least the allocated funds first.

He gave a call for ‘Chalo Assembly’ protest on the issue during the winter session of the Assembly to highlight the issue and build pressure on the government for proper implementation of the Sub-Plans.

Venkat Reddy of MCPI (U), B. Veeraiah of CPI (ML), K. Venkateswar Rao of ML Committee, Muralidhar Deshpande of Forward Bloc, V. Janaki Ramulu of RSP and others spoke at the meeting. The meeting adopted several resolutions demanding the government to spend the allotted funds through nodal agencies, carrying forward the unspent funds and bring in a special legislation for proper implementation of the Sub-Plans among others.