Centre To Evolve A Strategy For Effective Implementation Of The Special Component Plan For Scheduled Castes, Says Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya; State Ministers Meeting In February
The Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya has said that the Centre will evolve a strategy for effective implementation of the scheme of Special Central Assistance (SCA) to Special Component Plan (SCP) for Scheduled Castes (SCs). Addressing the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry here today, Dr. Jatiya said that a meeting of concerned Ministers of State Governments and Union Territories would be held in February 2004. The Minister said that the states must utilize funds for the purpose for which they are allocated and will have to furnish utilization certificates in time. He said the objective of the SCA is to support SC families to enhance their productivity and income. SCA is an additive to the Special Component Plan and is expected to give a thrust to family oriented schemes of economic development of SCs below the poverty line. It provides resources for filling the critical gaps and bridging the missing vital inputs so that the schemes can be more meaningful.
Referring to the good work being done by NGOs in implementing various schemes of the Ministry, Dr. Jatiya said, " We are working on a system to ensure timely disbursement of funds to NGOs". He said that a system will have to be evolved for undertaking surprise visits of NGOs by the Ministry. Dr. Jatiya specifically referred to the problems of the aged persons. He said that service delivery to the senior citizens has become a challenging task as resources being limited are not keeping a pace with ever-increasing population of older persons. Reiterating government’s commitment to the welfare of the senior citizens, he suggested that the new year be termed as the Social Security Year of the Aged to focus on better service delivery to them.
India is poised to have second largest population of aged persons in the world. Projection studies indicate that the number of persons above 60 years will from the present 76 million increase to 100 million in 2013 and further double to about 200 million in next 17 years ( i.e., upto 2030). The interesting aspect of the aged in India is that 80% of them live in rural areas, thus, making service delivery a challenge. Secondly 30% of senior citizens are living below the poverty line. Thirdly, women would constitute half of the elderly population by 2016.
The Members of the Consultative Committee said that the government must give top priority to the rehabilitation and service delivery programmes for the aged and disabled. They said that the Centre must give direction to the states to give matching funds to the Corporations working under the aegis of the Ministry. They said that the NGOs doing good work should be encouraged while those found misusing the funds should be blacklisted.
The Ministers of state for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Kailash Meghwal and Shri Nagmani, the Members of Parliament Shri K H Muniyappa and Shri Kishan Lal Diler participated in the meeting. The Social Justice and Empowerment Secretary Shri B. S. Baswan, other senior officials and the Managing Directors of various Corporation of the Ministry took part in the meeting.
(Release ID :469)