Centre’s apathy towards SCs exposed by Parliamentary Committee
The committee in its report on “Review of Functioning of NSFDC” presented in the Lok Sabha last month, expressed its disappointment that the NSFDC itself did not have enough representation of SCs in the Board of Directors
Hyderabad: A report by a Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has exposed the Centre’s apathy towards the welfare and development of the scheduled castes in the country, with the committee criticizing the disappointing performance of the Centre’s National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) and also the poor implementation of schemes intended for SCs.
The committee, chaired by Professor Kirit P Solanki, in its report on “Review of Functioning of NSFDC” presented in the Lok Sabha last month, expressed its disappointment that the NSFDC, a pioneering organization set up for economic upliftment of SCs, itself did not have enough representation of SCs in the Board of Directors. Out of the 15 Members, just two were from scheduled castes.
The Committee also raised serious concerns over the beneficiary coverage of several credit-based schemes of the corporation, pointing out that since the NSFDC’s inception in 1989 till September 2022, in 33 years, there were just 17 lakh beneficiaries from the SC community.
“In a country like India which has a vast population, the beneficiary coverage of the NSFDC schemes is quite dismal,” it said, adding that as per data for the last three years, credit schemes that found maximum takers were Term Loan, Laghu Vyavasay Yojana, Micro Credit Finance and Mahila Samriddhi Yojana. However, schemes like Stand up India Scheme, Udhyam Nidhi Yojana, Mahila Kisan Yojana, Shilpi Samridhi Yojana and the Vocational Education and Training Loan schemes had lesser beneficiaries.
The Committee categorically recommended that NSFDC should consider revamping the norms of schemes like increasing the credit limit and repayment period.
Interestingly, the handling of the NSFDC, funding for the same and efforts to maximize the reach of its schemes by the Centre stand in stark contrast to the measures being taken by the Telangana government, which has come up with schemes like the Dalit Bandhu.
The Telangana Scheduled Castes Cooperative Development Corporation Limited during 2021-22 released Rs 4,191.80 crore under Dalit Bandhu, while in the latest budget, the State government has proposed Rs.17,700 crore for Dalit Bandhu apart from proposing Rs 36,750 crore as Special Development Fund for Scheduled Castes.
Meanwhile, the Committee also observed that as on October 31, 2022, the authorized share capital of NSFDC was Rs.1,500 crore during the span of 33 years since its inception. Considering the credit schemes floated by NSFDC, the amount of Rs.1500 crore was quite meager, it said. Though the corporation had sought a share capital of Rs 2,500 crore in 2021-22, this was still awaiting comments of various ministries and departments, it said, recommending that the matter should be pursued by the NSFDC with the government “at the highest level” in order to enhance funding for various schemes.
More so, during the year 2021-22, 16,395 SCs were imparted skill training. Of these, 5932 were wage employed and 4926 were self-employed. It is pertinent to point out that 5537 individuals were still unemployed. It is a matter of serious concern that SCs are left directionless post training in the absence of employment, the Committee said.
The Committee also said that despite various measures, a majority of the SC population is still oblivious of the NSFDC’s schemes, and called for promotion of schemes and advertisement of the same with target groups.
