Latest news with #SpecialComponentPlan
The Hindu
24-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Housing Minister should quit, BJP says and demands CBI probe into allotment ‘scam'
The former MLA Rajkumar Patil Telkur has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged corruption in allotment of houses under Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation in Aland taluk of Kalaburagi district. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Mr. Telkur insisted that Minister for Housing and Minority Welfare B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan take moral responsibility for the rampant corruption in the housing scheme and resign from the Cabinet or Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should immediately suspend him. He said that the two-year rule of the Congress-led government in the State is marked by a series of scams and corruption, including irregularities in the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation and MUDA, diversion of funds meant for Dalit welfare under Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCP/TSP) funds. 'The Congress-led government is facing serious corruption allegations by its own legislators. We appreciate Mr. Patil for exposing the corruption in the housing scheme and MLA Raju Kage who has backed Mr. Patil's allegations,' he said. 'In allotment of houses, corruption begins when a staff arrives to capture GPS image of the allotted house. The gram panchayat president, Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs), MLAs of the respective taluks and the Housing Minister are involved in this corruption,' said. Mr. Telkur demanded that the State government cancel the allotment list and re-allot houses to genuine beneficiaries by holding gram sabha meetings. 'Political stunt' Another BJP leader Harshanand Guttedar, who is a former Zilla Panchayat vice-president and belongs to Aland taluk, addressing a press conference, said that MLA B.R. Patil's allegations against house allotment scheme exposes the Congress government's corruption. It is not that he has concern towards people, but (it is) a political stunt to gain mileage, Mr. Guttedar said. 'It is Mr. Patil's style of politics of vengeance. It is his way of expressing his disappointment over not being inducted into the State Cabinet. Mr. Patil is frustrated and he is on a mission to sink the Congress ship in the State,' Mr. Guttedar said. The houses were allotted to beneficiaries in December 2024, Mr. Guttedar said and added that the alleged corruption took place under Mr. Patil's nose and asked why after being silent all these months, he has exposed it only now.
The Hindu
19-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Officer asked to call for tender immediately for road widening in Aland
In a move to improve traffic flow in Aland town, Deputy Commissioner B. Fouzia Taranum has directed Chief Officer Sangamesh Panashetty to immediately call for tenders for road widening work. During her visit to Aland recently, Ms. Taranum chaired a review meeting at the Tahsildar's office along with Karnataka State Policy and Planning Commission Vice-Chairperson and local MLA B.R. Patil. Reviewing the progress of various municipal initiatives, she noted that ₹11 crore has been earmarked by the town municipality for road widening and emphasised the need for its effective utilisation. She also instructed municipal officials to ensure quality and timely completion of works currently under way across the town under the 15th Finance Commission and State Finance Commission grants. Earlier in the day, the Deputy Commissioner, along with Mr. Patil, visited the Aland Municipality's Solid Waste Management Unit and observed the scientific composting process of converting waste into organic fertiliser. She also inaugurated newly procured equipment under the Swachh Bharat Mission, including a tractor, composting machine and baling machine. As part of her visit, the Deputy Commissioner also inspected the ongoing water supply pipeline work and overhead tank construction under the AMRUT 2.0 scheme. She obtained updates from Executive Engineer Narasimha Reddy of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (Kalaburagi division) regarding the progress of work. She later visited the Indira Canteen construction site and instructed those in charge there that the remaining minor works be completed immediately so that the facility can be dedicated to the public without delay. Tricycles distributed On the same occasion, a tricycle distribution programme was held at the Aland municipal office, where Mr. Patil handed over tricycles, procured with Special Component Plan (SCP) funds, to seven persons with disabilities.
Time of India
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
About one fourth of welfare funds for scheduled castes unutilised in 2024-25, lowest in a decade
About one-fourth of funds earmarked for the welfare of Scheduled Castes remained unutilised in 2024-25 financial year, the lowest utilisation in a decade. About ₹1.66 lakh crore were allocated by 39 central ministries and departments under the Developmental Action Plan for Scheduled Castes (DAPSC) in 2024-25. Of this, ₹1.24 lakh crore or 74.74% of funds allocated under budget estimates were utilised. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack India stares at a 'water bomb' threat as it freezes Indus Treaty India readies short, mid & long-term Indus River plans Shehbaz Sharif calls India's stand "worn-out narrative" Statistics of the ministry of social justice and empowerment , the nodal ministry for DAPSC, reveal that 18 of the 39 central ministries spent less than 90% of the allocated funds. On an average, about 85-90% of the allocated funds under DAPSC have been utilised with the exception of two fiscals when the pandemic hit. The utilisation had gone down further to 76.12% in 2019-20 and 75.41% in 2020-21. According to statistics furnished by the ministry in Parliament on April 3, 2018, the lowest utilisation was in 2014-15 when 59.42% of the budget estimates was utilised. An email questionnaire sent to ministry of social justice and empowerment went unanswered. The concept of 'Special Component Plan (SCP)' for SCs was introduced in 1979. This was envisaged to help the poor SC families through composite income generating welfare and developmental schemes. Certain central ministries were required to earmark 2-20% of their budget outlay for SC welfare schemes . The nomenclature of SCP was changed to ' Scheduled Castes Sub Plan ' (SCSP) in 2006 and then again to Allocation for Welfare of Scheduled Castes in 2017-18 budget and now to DAPSC. The number of ministries which earmark this fund has increased from 14 to 26 to 30 to the present 39. Currently, these ministries earmark funds for 233 schemes. According to sources, the biggest challenge to this programme has been the inability of ministries to find targeted schemes. Due to this, the budget estimates are usually reduced at the revised estimates stage. Data from 2011-12 fiscal till date shows that budget estimates have been scaled up in six fiscals -- 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2021-22 and 2022-23. Some ministries like coal, telecommunications and micro, small and medium enterprises have not been able to identify these schemes. In the last term, Modi government had proposed revamping the scheme as it had found that ministries were earmarking funds for generic schemes that just included SC beneficiaries. This "notional" allocation was not serving the core purpose of DAPSC. The Niti Aayog had proposed a central fund which would directly transfer money to SC households with less than ₹5,000 monthly income. However, this plan has not fructified and now social justice ministry closely monitors the progress, identifying schemes for different ministries. According to sources, the utilisation in 2024-25 has been low because model code of conduct was in place for the parliamentary elections and sanctions for schemes could not take place for at least 2 months.
