Gadchiroli March 14 (District Correspondent) The founder of Sanvidhan Foundation and retired bureaucrat E. Z. Khobragade has flayed the state budget saying it has nothing new for the vulnerable class of the society in it.
In this budget, emphasis has been laid on building monuments in Panipat, Agra, Sangameshwar etc. In last year’s budget, it was announced that Maharashtra Bhavan will be built in Kashmir and Ayodhya. It does not seem to have started.
By announcing the monuments, the government thinks that it can go on ignoring the basic issues of the society like education, health, employment, livelihood, injustice and atrocities, security etc. Huge expenditure on infrastructure like roads, metro, etc. has been announced. However, basic facilities are not yet available in the settlements of the exploited and deprived class, Khobragade pointed out.
In 2024-25 budget, a provision of Rs. 15893 crores was made for the schemes of the Scheduled Castes. The government should provide information on how much was spent and on what? If we look at the budget provisions of the last ten years, the total unspent and undistributed funds in proportion to the population have reached around Rs. 50,000 crores. We can call this a backlog.
If there is no budget for the deprived, then it is the constitutional duty of the government to make plans to bring the backward community to the advanced community. In this year’s budget, a provision of Rs. 22568 crores have been made for the Scheduled Castes. The provision for the Scheduled Tribes is Rs. 21495 crores. When we look at the total figure of the development budget, we will see whether this provision is according to the population or not.
This year’s provision is better compared to last year’s 15893 crores. But it is important to see on what this fund will be spent. In last year’s budget, a provision of 1680 crores was made for the Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Samaj Vikas Yojana. As per the demand of MLAs and MPs, services, facilities and development work in Dalit settlements are taken from this scheme. The Zilla Parishad also implements such a scheme. The government should announce how many Dalit settlements have become self-sufficient.
What about the funds that were not spent? Where did the unspent Rs. 40,000 crores go? The Scheduled Caste Sub-scheme funds do not lapse, they cannot be diverted, but the unspent funds are carried forward. It is an experience that the Maharashtra state does not pay attention to this. If a budget law is made, some restrictions and responsibility will come on the system. To prevent this from happening and to use the funds of the SC and ST, this law is must
My beloved sister received financial assistance of 1500. Rs. 7. 36 thousand crores will be spent on this. Money is being distributed to women who have gained power. Concrete work needs to be done to protect them. Atrocities on women – injustice should be stopped.
There are no special provisions or announcements in the budget for Dalits, tribals, Bahujans and minorities. This is evident in every previous budget. There is no budget law for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes. Reservation policy, implementation of Atrocity Act is being completely ignored. No new schemes for educational, social, economic development are proposed. There is no improvement in the existing schemes. No new scheme has been announced in this regard even though it is the 75 th year of the Constitution. There is no budget provision for the Ghar Ghar Samvidhan Abhiyan. Overall, this is not a budget that provides social justice, Khobragade has pointed out.
