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The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Social Justice and Empowerment on Monday flayed the Union government over 46 years of missing data for the Central scheme to construct hostels for Scheduled Caste boys and girls across the country, it noted in its latest report on the scheme known as Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana (BJRCY).
While evaluating the scheme last year as well, the Committee had asked the government to provide specific data on the number of hostels constructed under the scheme since its inception in 1961 and had done so on several other occasions as well, it noted.
The committee further said that “to their utter dismay”, instead of providing updated information on hostels constructed under the scheme between 1961 to 2007, when the scheme was revised, the government said it had written to States seeking the relevant information.
“It is incomprehensible as to how data of nearly 46 years is missing altogether. The Committee are also surprised to note that hardly any action has been taken by the Department on the matter. The Committee are quite unhappy with the casual approach of the Department and direct them to take concrete measures to update the records as a routine exercise of sending letters may prove to be futile,” the panel said.
The committee further said that it was “anguished” to note that only 819 hostels (391 for girls and 271 for boys) had been sanctioned since the revision of the scheme in 2007, against the target of constructing one each in every Block headquarters of low literacy districts.
Of these 891, the committee said that just 662 hostels had been constructed, with 144 under construction and 13 having been cancelled. The panel had earlier also noted that despite further revisions to the scheme in 2018 and 2020, the “scheme seems to have hit a roadblock” as just 62 hostels had been sanctioned since then.
In its response to the panel’s concerns, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had cited the lack of proposals for hostels from State and Union Territory governments, and also said that they were constantly pushing implementing agencies to finish the work.
The committee, however, said, “The helplessness of the Department to improve the performance of BJRCY in the absence of proposals from States/UTs is not convincing enough… the Committee cannot but feel that the Department is trying to wash its hands off by stating that the implementing agencies are communicated to conduct need assessment survey and submit the proposal for construction of hostels.”
The committee went on to say that it cannot help but wonder why the Union government was not actively planning the hostels in deficient districts and guiding stakeholders to prepare viable proposals when the scheme is 100% Centrally sponsored. It added, “The Committee strongly believe that the nodal Department should shoulder more responsibility in the implementation and monitoring of progress of the Scheme to achieve the targets.”
Moreover, the committee once again questioned the government’s move to merge the scheme with the ‘Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana’ (PM-AJAY), PMAGY, and Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan in 2021-22, saying that notional allocation for separate schemes in the merged plan was not being provided. It said that assessment of any scheme would be impossible without such data and once again reiterated to the government to re-examine notional allocation of each scheme within the merged one.
The panel also said that the current system of earmarking 2% of the funds sanctioned under PM-AJAY for construction/expansion, repair and maintenance and earmarking of 30% of grants-in-aid for infrastructure development including hostels was “much in deviation” from established practice, and sought data from the government justifying this system.