Kerala Budget earmarks ₹2,979 crore for Scheduled Caste Sub Plan

Kerala State Budget presented by FM K.N. Balagopal emphasised on Scheduled Caste Sub Plan

Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal presents the State Budget 2023-24 in the Assembly, in Thiruvananthapuram. | Photo Credit: PTI

The State Budget presented by Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal on Thursday earmarked ₹2979.40 crore for the Scheduled Caste (SC) Sub Plan. This includes ₹1,638.10 crore for the Scheduled Caste Development Department and ₹1,341.30 crore for Local Self-Government institutions.

The Budget has provided ₹429.61 crore for educational assistance of SC students. This includes ₹70 crore for the construction of the Palakkad Medical College. The total provision is ₹104 crore more than that of 2022-23.

An amount of ₹65 crore was allocated as the State’s share for the post-matric scholarship of SC students, while ₹7.20 crore was set apart as the State’s share for the new pre-matric scholarship for SC students’ studies in Standards 9 and 10. The budget set apart ₹50 crore for skill development programme for SC youths. A sum of ₹13 crore was allocated for the management of model residential schools, including the Ayyankali Memorial Model Residential Sports School at Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram. An amount of ₹180 crore was provided for the purchase of land for the construction of houses for poor and landless SC families. Around 5,000 landless families are intended to be benefited.

The Budget provided ₹205 crore for the completion of partially constructed houses, renovation of dilapidated houses, and construction of study rooms, while ₹2 lakh was earmarked for each family for constructing study rooms.

An amount of ₹50 crore was provided for the development programmes for vulnerable communities among SCs, and a financial assistance of ₹84.39 crore was provided for the marriage of SC girls.

A sum of ₹60 crore was earmarked for the Dr. Ambedkar Village Development Scheme, and ₹1 crore will be provided as assistance to each colony.

The Budget set apart ₹53 crore for healthcare schemes, while ₹45 crore was earmarked as corpus fund for critical gap filling schemes with special emphasis on human resource development, basic needs, and economic development under the SC Sub Plan.