HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has announced committees of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes elected representatives, legislators and MPs, for recommending programmes to be taken up under SC and Tribal Sub-Plans.
“The State Government will implement the area-specific programmes to be recommended by the two committees for the development SCs and STs. Hitherto it was others who used to decide the programmes for SCs and STs but the practice will be changed with the elected representatives from the communities deciding what they want,” the Chief Minister said at a meeting on the implementation of the two Sub-Plans here on Friday.
Committees formed
Headed by Tribal Welfare Minister A. Chandulal, the committee on TSP will comprise D.S. Redya Naik, S. Ramulu Naik, Kova Laxmi, Sunnam Rajaiah, Thati Venkateswarlu, A. Seetharam Naik and G. Nagesh.
Similarly, the committee on SCSP to be headed by Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihar will include M. Bhatti Vikramarka, J. Geetha Reddy, G. Kishore Kumar, S.A. Sampath Kumar, N. Odelu, Rasamayi Balkishen, A. Ramesh, S. Venkata Veeraiah, B. Sanjeeva Rao, M.S. Prabhakar Rao, B. Suman and Nandi Yellaiah as its members. Koppula Eshwar will be special invitee.
Several legislators made suggestions on better implementation of the Sub-Plans and the changes needed to be brought-in.
The Chief Minister suggested funds meant for SCs and STs be spent through SC, ST departments instead of various other departments. The committees should design programmes keeping in mind the area-specific needs, he felt.
Responsibility
Further, the Chief Minister stressed the need to make amendments in the SC, ST Sub-Plans Act to design a growth engine for their development.
He admitted that rules were yet to be formulated for the implementation of the Sub-Plans Act which had prescribed carrying forward of funds meant for the Sub-Plans if the funds allocated in a year were not spent fully.
The Chief Minister also agreed to send an all-party team to the Centre to press for categorisation of SCs.
Expressing his disappointment over not achieving the desired change in the lives of SC/STs despite implementation of several programmes since Independence, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao said a majority of them were still reeling under poverty. “The government has a responsibility to work for their uplift through various interventions,” he noted.
Stating that distribution of three-acre land to Dalit families was a continuous process, the Chief Minister desired consolidation of small holdings of assigned lands to make cultivation viable.
