Funds under tribal sub plan being diverted by ministries
25 Jun, 2013Multiple applications were filed with each line ministry under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details of implementation of tribal sub-plan (TSP).
Under tribal sub plan, 28 central ministries and departments are required to earmark a definite percentage of their total outlay for tribal specific welfare programmes. However, the replies to the applications given by different ministries indicate that most of the ministries have been randomly allocating funds meant for tribal welfare to universal programmes that have little bearing on tribal welfare.
The replies reveal that the ministries and departments have been diverting these tribal funds for other purposes like regulation and development of mines, technology mission on jute, regional exploration, computerisation of Public Distribution System, supply of drugs and contraceptives, teachers' trainings, etc.
Moreover, many departments admitted that they have failed to frame targeted schemes for tribals due to which funds allocated under TSP have been lapsing. For example, reply from Indian Bureau of Mines state that they didn’t have enough expertise to frame schemes for tribal development.