New Delhi: Expressing unhappiness over the non-expenditure of Rs 559 crore out of the total budgetary allocation of Minority Affairs Ministry, a Parliamentary panel today said a mechanism should be devised in consultation with Planning Commission to make erring states accountable.
Dissatisfied with the ministry`s action taken reply on the matter, the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment chaired by Congress MP Hemanand Biswal said the government should take up the matter at appropriate level so that the schemes of welfare for minorities do not suffer due to "inaction of some states".
A sum of Rs 559.28 could not be utilised out of total budgetary allocation of Rs 2,866 core for MoMA for the year 2010-11 and hence the panel had recommended earlier that the ministry should analyse the implementation of various schemes so as to ensure 100 percent utilisation of the increased budgetary allocation of Rs 313 crore for it in 2012-2013.
The report was tabled in Lok Sabha today.
In its action taken reply, the ministry responded by saying that it has enumerated various steps including giving publicity to states and persuading states to speed up their implementation. The Committee, however, found that these steps are of "routine nature" and won`t work.
The panel also reiterated its earlier recommendation that the government should examine the possibility of relaxing the election norms in favour of deprived girl students under the Merit-cum-Means Scholarship scheme.
The committee had earlier noted with dismay that states and Union Territories like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh were not able to award 30 per cent scholarships to girl students as envisaged in the scheme.
It also expressed concern over the "inordinate delay" in implementation of the Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women launched in January, 2010.
Maintaining that the panel was "deeply anguished" that a scheme, which could have played a major role in empowering minority women could not see the light of the day, it said the ministry should take expeditious action for execution of the scheme in a time bound manner.
PTI
