TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Over Rs 300 crore of the total allocated Rs 416 crore for the welfare of the tribal communities in 25 government departments under tribal sub-plan remained unutilized for the financial year 2013-14.
As per the rule, all the departments have to allocate 12 per cent of their budget fund for the development and upliftment of the community.
The government had allocated Rs 416 crore for the financial year 2013-14 for the tribal community, of which Rs 315 crore remained unutilized in the 25 departments that include major heads like tourism, industries, fisheries, municipal administration, transport, police and others.
Also for the year 2012-13, nearly Rs 300 crore had remained unused or diverted.
The Goa Commission for Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes has summoned the directors of 25 government departments to appear before it to ask for an explanation for non utilization of the funds. Earlier too, the commission had served notices to certain departments in relation to the budget allocations and utilisation after it found that majority of the departments meagrely utilised the funds under tribal sub-plan.
“The commission observed that though the government departments earmarked the funds under TSP in the past they have not listed out the details of the schemes. The departments also repeatedly failed to carry out awareness programme about the schemes among the SC and ST communities, thus depriving them of benefits,” official said adding that departments have assured the Commission to utilize maximum funds for the forthcoming financial year.
Directorate of Tribal Welfare has spent nearly Rs 23.88 crore on the tribal community, followed by power department that spent Rs 13 crore, agriculture and animal husbandry-Rs 7 crore each, water resources Rs 5-crore and health sector Rs 3 crore. Other departments include women and child, social welfare, information and publicity, art and culture and forest.
