Call for SC/ST Sub-Plan at national level

• Dalit groups are pressing for a nodal agency
• CDS chief seeks cooperation of national media in bringing the issue to the centre-stage
• Lack of political will deplored
• Call for dedicated funds for SC/STs

"After Andhra Pradesh Government passed the Act on the SC/ST Sub-Plan, we have decided to take up the issue at the national level," says Mallepalli Lakshmaiah, founder-chairman of the CDS. New Delhi: Pressure is mounting on the Centre to table a Bill in the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament on SC/ST Sub-Plan, on the lines of the legislation recently passed in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. Various Dalit groups are pressing the Centre to identify a nodal agency so that funds are released from one point for the dedicated purpose of SCs and STs. Addressing a media workshop organised by Centre for Dalit Studies (CDS) and National Coalition for SCSP/TSP Legislation on SCSP/TSP at AP Bhawan here on Saturday, former Union Secretary P S Krishnan said a Draft Bill had already been furnished to the Planning Commission. But, an Inter-Ministerial Working Group had been set up to draft a Bill, which was a virtual duplication of efforts. He insisted that it was the role of media that helped enactment of the law in Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, unless and until the media plays such a role at the national level, the Centre cannot be persuaded to pass the Bill. "What we want is a national Bill. The Draft Bill given to the Planning Commission on October 29, 2010, attracted the attention of National Advisory Council Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on December 20, 2011, Sonia Gandhi stressed on the SC and ST Sub-Plan, as the Government then was on the threshold of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan," Krishnan said. Mallepalli Lakshmaiah, founder-chairman of CDS, who has been the moving spirit behind the entire exercise, sought the cooperation of the national media in creating a proper and conducive atmosphere, so that the Centre could be persuaded to pass the law on SC/ST Sub-Plan. "After Andhra Pradesh Government passed the Act on the SC/ST Sub-Plan, we have decided to take up the issue at the national level," he said. K Srinivas Reddy, former Secretary-General of IJU, recounted the role played by the media in Andhra Pradesh in mounting pressure on the State Government to pass the Act on the SC/ST Sub-Plan. The SC/ST funds were easily diverted all along. The SC component was Rs 20,000 crore and the ST component was Rs 7 crore, he said. Paul Divakar, Convenor of National Coalition for SCSP/TSP Legislation, pointed out lack of political will as most of the SC/ST funds are diverted and were only notionally allocated. Anand Bolimera, a social development activist, said, " if one talks of economic equality and social equality, it is important to have economic equality and the SCP and TSP will certainly go a long way in empowerment of the communities, and in the neo liberalization era the reservation does not really help the communities." The Hans India-HMTV Editor-in-Chief K Ramachandra Murthy explained that the neo-liberal theory that creation of wealth would lead to percolation of the benefits to the Dalits would not work. Dedicated funds should be earmarked for the SCs and STs under a separate Sub-Plan for their overall development. He explained the efforts made by HMTV-Centre for Dalit Studies to organise public debates to mount pressure on the Andhra Pradesh Government to come up with the legislation. He said efforts were being intensified at national-level to enlist the cooperation of all political parties. A team had met RSS Chief Mohan Bhagvat, BJP President Rajnath Singh, CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy and CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat to seek their support. An interesting interactive question-and-answer session by scribes from leading magazines and national dailies followed. The scribes evinced keen interest in the salient features of the Andhra Pradesh law and the way forward to persuade the Centre to agree to such a law at the national level.