Knowhow of Act benefitting SC, STs
SHILLONG: After learning of a very unique Act legislated for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes by the State of Karnataka, John F Kharshiing, Co-Chairman, Meghalaya State Planning Board had an interaction and meeting with officials of the Karnataka State Planning Board on January 24 in Bangalore.
The meeting was attended by senior advisers and planners of the State including prominent NGO representatives of Karnataka who expressed their willingness to share and exchange their inputs on various sectors including the challenges that could be faced by the State Government of Meghalaya, the Autonomous District Councils and the Traditional Institutions of Meghalaya.
The meeting discussed the Karnataka Schedule Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Financial Resources) Act, 2013, the objective of which was to ensure plan allocation for the SC & STs in Karnataka in the State Plan Outlay.
The unique aspect of the Act is that the allotted funds for SC and ST cannot be diverted, so as to ensure that the schemes reach the targeted beneficiary.
During the discussions, it was suggested that this approach could also be adopted as a solution by the Northeastern state governments.
The matter can be taken up with the Planning Commission and the Centre to incorporate as part of the proposed and upcoming amendments to the Sixth Schedule and this would resolve the long pending demand for direct funding to the ten Autonomous District Councils in Northeast, Kharshiing said.
Kharshiing stated that he would forward all these inputs to the Meghalaya State Planning Board, for recommendation to the Meghalaya Government and more importantly for the benefit of the citizens of Meghalaya.