Taking a serious view of Punjab Government’s non-seriousness regarding implementation of various State schemes and plans for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, National Scheduled Castes’ Commission (NSCC) has decided to summon the state government soon with a formal action taken report about the same.
Commission chairman Dr Panna lal Punia, disclosing this to a delegation of National SC Alliance (NSCA) led by its national president Paramjit Singh Kainth, said that the Commission is going to ask the state government particularly its Chief Secretary to show some kind of seriousness about the state SCs as they are having a population of over 35 percent in the state’s total population.
Giving details of the meeting, NSCA national head Kainth said that Dr Punia would soon take up the matter seriously so that the state SCs will get the actual benefits of the welfare schemes and plans drafted for their welfare.
He said the Commission maintained that in case, the state government failed to come up with a report regarding what steps it has taken over the earlier complaint about non-utilisation of Rs 4,039 crore funds sanctioned under various welfare schemes drafted for the upliftment of state scheduled castes, a stern action would be initiated against the erring state officials. It has also made it clear that the Commission would not allow diverting of such funds or lapsing of these funds as it only want its utilization for the welfare of state scheduled castes. Besides welfare funds, the state government also failed to even implement the sub plan meant for the welfare of the SCs even as the funds for the same has been allocated in its budget for 2012-13.