Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday announced that a special Session of the Legislative Assembly would be convened within a month to accord “statutory status” to the SC, ST sub-plan to check diversion of sub-plan funds to other sectors. Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat after receiving the draft report submitted by the Cabinet sub-committee on the implementation of the SC, ST sub-plan, the Chief Minister said, “This is a new chapter in the history of the state, more so for the Congress and our government. The report reflects the sincerity and commitment of our party and government towards the welfare of SCs and STs and our endeavour to involve them in the overall development of the state. We will take all steps to ensure that the sub-plan funds are utilised meaningfully for the welfare of SCs and STs. Henceforth, no notional expenditure of sub-plan funds will be allowed. We are not doing this with an eye on vote-bank politics.”
Admitting that sub-plan funds were diverted over the years to other sectors like laying of the Outer Ring Road, cleaning of Hussainsagar Lake and so on, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy added, “This is not good. We have to change this. For that reason, we have constituted the Cabinet sub-committee which toured extensively across the state since April this year and collected feedback from all stakeholders.”
Elaborating, Deputy CM Damodar Raja Narasimha, who heads the Cabinet sub-committee, said, “The funds released under the sub-plan will be utilised to provide drinking water, qualitative education, housing, for women’s empowerment and for creating infrastructure facilities for the SCs and STs. To begin with, all villages where the population of SCs and STs is over 40 per cent will be identified and funds spent for their betterment.”