The Union government’s claim of inclusive development came under scrutiny on Friday as a civil society group found that the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) had been allocated a paltry amount in the interim budget for 2024-25.

The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) held a news conference to highlight that the allocated funds for SCs and STs were shown to have been made under schemes of a general nature such as urea subsidy or road construction. It was stated that the allocation under targeted programmes such as scholarships, which are intended to provide greater benefits to the deprived sections, had remained minimal.

The total estimated expenditure in the Union Budget 2024-25 is Rs 51,08,780 crore, whereas the total allocation for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes is Rs 1,65,598 crore and for the Scheduled Tribes, Rs 1,21,023 crore.

Paul Diwakar, an activist and general secretary of the NCDHR, said the Niti Aayog had fixed ministry-wise obligations for spending a certain percentage of their budgets for the welfare of SCs and STs. The obligation comes to Rs 2.1 lakh crore for the SCs and Rs 1.2 lakh crore for the STs.

A major share of the allocated amount has gone into general schemes. For example, the government’s proposed spending on the SCs includes urea subsidy payment of Rs 11,000 crore,Rs 10,000 crore under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Nidhi and Rs 15,000 crore under the Jal Jeevan mission or piped water scheme.

Scholarship schemes play a crucial role in enhancing the condition of SCs and STs. However, it was noted that the allocations for highly impactful schemes such as Top Class Education for SCs, National Overseas Scholarship, National SCs/STs Hub Centre and Free Coaching for SCs, STs, and OBCs remain nearly unchanged.

The NCDHR found that allocations for the targeted schemes for the SCs were Rs 44,282 crore and for the STs, Rs 36,212 crore.

“The SCs and STs have greater potential to develop and improve their condition if they get support under the targeted schemes. But the government has given greater allocation under general schemes such as urea subsidy or piped water. The farmers are the greater beneficiaries of the urea subsidy. But the SCs do not benefit so much,” Diwakar said.

The general scheme’s benefit goes to all sections of the population. The SCs and STs should be provided exclusive benefits under the funds meant for their welfare in addition to the benefits they get under general schemes for the whole population, he said.