Does the budget talk about Dalits and tribals?
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The total estimated expenditure in the Union Budget 2024-25 is Rs 51,08,780 crore, while the total allocation for the welfare of Scheduled Castes is Rs 1,65,598 crore and for Scheduled Tribes is Rs 1,21,023 crore.
Recently, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim budget in Parliament. However, budget has always been an important topic. But in view of India’s falling position in the polls and various reports on marginalized communities, it becomes all the more important to examine the Budget from an inclusive perspective. Amidst the big claims, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure adequate allocation for the schemes of tribals and Dalits. However, cases of under-utilization of allocated funds have also been repeated over the years. Lok Sabha Prime Minister Modi has said that the budget will be inclusive and innovative as well as the budget for building the future of the country. It will empower the four pillars of developed India: youth, poor, women and farmers.
But this year the central government has significantly reduced allocations in 26 of the 37 core welfare schemes that cover core programs like health, education, rural development and addressing marginalized communities. President Draupadi Murmu said in Parliament that due to the efforts of the government, the dropout rate in the country has reduced. Enrollment of girls in higher education has increased. Enrollment of Scheduled Caste students has increased by nearly 44 percent, that of Scheduled Tribe students by more than 65 percent and that of OBC by more than 44 percent. One reason for the low dropout rate has been scholarships. But there has been a huge cut in the education of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the budget.
This year the central government has significantly reduced allocations in 26 of the 37 core welfare schemes that cover core programs like health, education, rural development and addressing marginalized communities.
No change in financial allocation for Scheduled Castes and Tribes
The total expenditure in the budget is estimated at Rs 47.66 lakh crore. No major changes have been made in the financial allocation for Scheduled Castes and Tribes as compared to the financial year 2023. The budget document shows that the government spent only Rs 257.37 crore in the fiscal year on various financial schemes for minorities, including pre-matric, post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarships.
The estimates presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the financial year 2024-25 left the budgets of the ministries of social justice and tribal affairs largely unchanged. The estimated allocations for both the ministries saw a marginal increase compared to the budget estimates for FY 2023-24. While Rs 14,225 crore has been allocated for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Rs 13,000 crore has been allocated for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
The estimates presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the financial year 2024-25 left the budgets of the ministries of social justice and tribal affairs largely unchanged. The estimated allocations for both the ministries saw a marginal increase compared to the budget estimates for FY 2023-24.
Reduction in education budget of Dalit tribals
The revised estimates for the financial year 2023-24 showed a decline of 38 per cent and 23 per cent in the expenditure of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Social Justice compared to the allocation in the Budget Estimates of 2023-24. The total estimated expenditure in the Union Budget 2024-25 is Rs 51,08,780 crore, while the total allocation for the welfare of Scheduled Castes is Rs 1,65,598 crore and for Scheduled Tribes is Rs 1,21,023 crore. In case of poverty, children of Scheduled Castes and Tribes depend on scholarships for further studies. But the government is proving through various cases, starting from Dr. Ritu Singh, how serious it is about the education of children coming from these communities. It is worth noting that funds for pre-matric scholarships, education schemes and various skill programs have been cut, which could potentially cause problems for the Muslim community.
The revised estimates for the financial year 2023-24 showed a decline of 38 per cent and 23 per cent in the expenditure of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Social Justice compared to the allocation in the Budget Estimates of 2023-24.
Cut in education budget of minorities
Allocation for pre-matric scholarship fell from Rs 1,425 crore to Rs 433 crore. Funding for skill development schemes like ‘Nai Manzil’, which mostly targets minority women, declined to Rs 3.4 crore from Rs 332.91 crore in the previous financial year. Funds for research schemes for minorities have been halved from Rs 41 crore to Rs 20 crore. The scheme for madrassas and education for minorities saw a huge cut from Rs 160 crore to Rs 10 crore this year.
According to The Mooknayak, Dr. Maya John, Assistant Professor, Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University, while expressing her disappointment over the continuous cut in funding allocation for scholarships and fellowships, underlined that the PM Research Fellowship will cost Rs 400 crore in 2023-24. Reduction of 12.5 percent to Rs 350 crore in 2024-25. National Fellowship for OBC students was reduced by 4 per cent from Rs 57 crore to Rs 55 crore. There is no mention of special scholarship scheme for underprivileged students of Jammu and Kashmir in the budget.
Funding for skill development schemes like ‘Nai Manzil’, which mostly targets minority women, declined to Rs 3.4 crore from Rs 332.91 crore in the previous financial year.
How much budget was allocated for post-matric scholarship?
Where this year the slight increase in the allocation of National Overseas Scholarship for Scheduled Castes from Rs 50 crore to Rs 95 crore is a good effort. But despite demands for increase in post-matric scholarship, this year’s budget is Rs 6349 crore for SC and Rs 2374 crore for ST, a marginal increase from last year. Looking at higher education expenditure for SCs and STs, the Higher Education Department has allocated Rs 4180.60 crore under Allocation for Welfare of Scheduled Castes (AWSC), Rs 2126.30 crore for STs. Even though there has been an increase in the allocation by the Ministry of Higher Education by 3.7 per cent under AWSC and 3.2 per cent under AWST, AWSC and none of the schemes given in AWST are targeted towards the education of SC and ST students.
Where this year the slight increase in the allocation of National Overseas Scholarship for Scheduled Castes from Rs 50 crore to Rs 95 crore is a good effort. But despite demands for increase in post-matric scholarship, this year’s budget is Rs 6349 crore for SC and Rs 2374 crore for ST, a marginal increase from last year.
Not just an allocation problem
The schemes to eliminate unsafe sewers (Namaste) have replaced the earlier scheme called Schemes for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) under the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs from the year 2022. It focuses more on mechanization of cleaning. The sanitation process aims to upgrade the skills of people already engaged in sanitation work. But it does not take into account the problem of systematically forcing Dalits into sanitation work over generations. Namaste Scheme was launched as a Central Sector Scheme in 2022. The scheme was launched jointly by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and aimed to eliminate unsafe sewer and septic tank cleaning practices for which approximately Rs 100 crore was allocated in 2023. But only Rs 30 crore was used for this scheme. Despite this, Rs 116 crore has been allocated for this scheme in the interim budget.
Despite the shortfall in the allocated budget, it is used so little is a failure of the Centre. India’s existing problems cannot be solved by mere allocation. There are only two possible reasons for not utilizing the allocated budget. Highlighting the issue of allocation for SCs and STs, the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) has said that the money allocated for the upliftment and welfare of marginalized communities goes into general schemes like road construction and urea subsidy. Has been given. Prime Minister Modi has called this interim budget a dream budget.
Does this mean that in this dream budget, better education will not be given to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities, schemes like Namaste will be available for them but will not be used, which will result in the death of more than four hundred sanitation workers every five years? It will be done. Will the exploitation of Dalits and tribals continue in higher educational institutions like IITs? The benefits of the general scheme are available to all sections of the population. If we pay attention to the statistics showing social status, Dalit, tribal and Muslim communities stand on the margins. Therefore, they should be provided special benefits under funds for their welfare in addition to the benefits available under general schemes for the entire population. At the same time, it should be ensured that there is no shortfall in the utilization of the allocated budget.
Courtesy: Feminism in India
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