The Crossbill News Desk
A parliamentary panel has raised serious concerns over the financial management of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, flagging significant surrender and underutilisation of funds meant for marginalised communities, according to a report cited by The Economic Times.
As per the report, the 31-member parliamentary standing committee for social justice and empowerment, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP P. C. Mohan, flagged the ministry’s inability to spend funds allocated to it and questioned its fiscal management, stating that it finds the surrender of funds “incomprehensible”.
The committee noted that out of Rs 10,309 crore sanctioned for the SC community in 2024-25, the department of social justice and empowerment has surrendered Rs 2,345 crore, which is nearly 23%.
“The committee cannot comprehend the reasons due to which large portion of the allocation had to be surrendered in respect of the schemes meant for the poorest of the poor section of the society, i.e., SCs, OBCs, EBCs and DNTs (denotified tribes),” it said.
The committee also found that a substantial amount of the budget sanctioned for 2024-25 was surrendered by the department. Nearly 20-25% of the budget allocated for ‘Top Class Education’ for SCs and ‘Top Class School and College’ schemes for other backward classes, economically backward classes and denotified tribes was surrendered, it stated.
These are scholarship schemes for meritorious students from the SC, OBC, EBC and DNT sections to help them pursue higher education after Class 12.
“The committee cannot draw any other conclusion than that the surrender of funds can take place only when either there is no proper assessment or the implementing agencies are not strictly implementing the schemes,” the report said, as quoted by ET, further noting that the ministry’s justification by putting the blame on states for fewer proposals was “not convincing”.
The panel further expressed concern over the unutilised funds.
“The committee, however, is not pleased to note that the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has not been able to spend the allocated amount over all these years,” it said.
According to the ET report, while budget estimates have been increased over the last few years, the social justice and empowerment ministry has been consistently scaling down this budget allocation by about 30% at the revised estimates stage.
The committee had also flagged concerns over continued budget cuts, under-utilisation of funds and implementation gaps in welfare schemes for minorities, stating that the pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes for minority students have not been approved beyond 2021-22, and scholarships have not been disbursed from 2022-23 onwards due to “gross irregularities”.
The panel urged the ministry to implement the schemes in states where irregularities were minimal so that minority students are not deprived of scholarship funds for education.
The observations of the panel underscore broader concerns about gaps in delivery and planning within welfare programmes, even as allocations on paper continue to rise, raising questions about the effectiveness of policy execution on the ground.
As per the report, the 31-member parliamentary standing committee for social justice and empowerment, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP P. C. Mohan, flagged the ministry’s inability to spend funds allocated to it and questioned its fiscal management, stating that it finds the surrender of funds “incomprehensible”.
The committee noted that out of Rs 10,309 crore sanctioned for the SC community in 2024-25, the department of social justice and empowerment has surrendered Rs 2,345 crore, which is nearly 23%.
“The committee cannot comprehend the reasons due to which large portion of the allocation had to be surrendered in respect of the schemes meant for the poorest of the poor section of the society, i.e., SCs, OBCs, EBCs and DNTs (denotified tribes),” it said.
The committee also found that a substantial amount of the budget sanctioned for 2024-25 was surrendered by the department. Nearly 20-25% of the budget allocated for ‘Top Class Education’ for SCs and ‘Top Class School and College’ schemes for other backward classes, economically backward classes and denotified tribes was surrendered, it stated.
These are scholarship schemes for meritorious students from the SC, OBC, EBC and DNT sections to help them pursue higher education after Class 12.
“The committee cannot draw any other conclusion than that the surrender of funds can take place only when either there is no proper assessment or the implementing agencies are not strictly implementing the schemes,” the report said, as quoted by ET, further noting that the ministry’s justification by putting the blame on states for fewer proposals was “not convincing”.
The panel further expressed concern over the unutilised funds.
“The committee, however, is not pleased to note that the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has not been able to spend the allocated amount over all these years,” it said.
According to the ET report, while budget estimates have been increased over the last few years, the social justice and empowerment ministry has been consistently scaling down this budget allocation by about 30% at the revised estimates stage.
The committee had also flagged concerns over continued budget cuts, under-utilisation of funds and implementation gaps in welfare schemes for minorities, stating that the pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes for minority students have not been approved beyond 2021-22, and scholarships have not been disbursed from 2022-23 onwards due to “gross irregularities”.
The panel urged the ministry to implement the schemes in states where irregularities were minimal so that minority students are not deprived of scholarship funds for education.
The observations of the panel underscore broader concerns about gaps in delivery and planning within welfare programmes, even as allocations on paper continue to rise, raising questions about the effectiveness of policy execution on the ground.
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