The Puducherry government has, for the first time, earmarked 16.19 per cent of the budget for the development and welfare of the scheduled caste community in the current year, Chief Minister N Rangasamy said on Saturday.
Delivering the inaugural address at the first meeting of the reconstituted State Level Committee for the Welfare of Schedule Castes, he assured that the funds would be fully utilised so that the benefits reached the targeted beneficiaries.
The Chief minister, who is also the chairman of the committee, said all measures would be taken to enhance the standard of living of the downtrodden and also to meet their housing requirements. Earlier, delivering the welcome address, Secretary for Welfare Vivek Pandey said that steps had been taken to provide 1,500 laptops to students in the current year.
Responding to the grievances expressed by members of the committee, who presented a 35-point memorandum to the chief minister, he said that it would be thoroughly examined and action would be initiated soon.
Welfare Minister P Rajavelu, the vice-chairman of the committee, said that a sum of `485 crore had been earmarked for welfare of the scheduled caste community, out of which, `53 crore would be given out as loan. Further, `30 crore had been allocated for housing and assured that reconstruction of 2,200 damaged houses would be taken up in the current year. The government would tie up with the Manidha Naeyam IAS Academy in Chennai, run by Chennai Mayor Saidai S Doraisamy, and sponsor students for IAS coaching, while another `18 crore would be disbursed as scholarships to studentsof the SC community under educational assistance scheme.
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