Need and Importance of Special Development Fund in India

Source: Internet

Special Development Fund, a fund that is created solely to fulfill a specific purpose or plan. There are many countries in the world that have achieved success by working in a special scheme for their development.

When a five-year plan was launched in India, it was estimated that we would soon remove poverty and economic inequality from India, and have practically achieved success in it. But the objectives for which these models were taken from Russia in India are still very far from their purpose.

After independence, India made several important decisions for the strengthening of the social and economic model, which was also the beginning of the Five Year Plan. The foundation of the first five-year plan was laid in 1951 and the Planning Commission was formed. Jawaharlal Nehru had introduced the first five-year plan in Parliament on December 8, 1951, and at that time he set a target of 2.1 percent of GDP. There was a special emphasis on farming in this project as the lack of food grain was a matter of grave concern during that time. After that, poverty alleviation was given priority in the fifth Five Year Plan. So far, we have started making twelve-five-year plans but still, we have not been able to make the marginalized community strong, socially and politically strong in the country.

According to World Human Development Report 2018, India is ranked 131 in the list of 188 countries. It has also been found in the HDI report that about 1.5 billion people live in multi-dimensional poverty in developing countries. Of these, 54% or 800 million people are in South Asia while 34% are in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Asia, the countries which are close to India in the HDI rank are comparable with the size of the comparative population; they are Bangladesh and Pakistan, which are ranked 139 and 147 respectively. The average human development achievement in India is very low, so it states the level of inequality in the distribution of human development in the population at the country level. Human Development Index report states that due to inequality, there is a great loss in human development. According to this report, if inequality increases in one country then there is a loss in human development too. Today’s a large number of people face the poverty, unemployment every day in India.

Since the state of Telangana was formed in 2014, the state has adopted a different development strategy. To connect the Dalit and tribal communities with the mainstream of development, the state has worked on creating a separate plan. To prepare the topic for the economic and social empowerment of the Dalit community. The state has devised a scheme in 2017, which is known as Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribal Special Development Fund (use of the plan, allocation, and financial resources) Bill 2017. The State of Telangana has set a fund according to the proportion of its population for the Dalits and tribal communities from its annual fund, and accordingly, the state is spending money for its development. According to the new law of 2017, vigilance committees have been constituted at the district level and at the state level. This topic will be monitored on this plan and along with its funding; the state level Scheduled Caste Welfare Committee will review it at every six months at the state level.

According to the 2011 census, the percentage of Scheduled Castes in the total population of Telangana state is 15.45%. Like the entire country, the social and economic condition of the Dalit community is also not good here. Therefore special attention is given to empower marginalized communities in Telangana state. Several schemes are being run by the state for the development of the Dalit community, such as scheduled caste agricultural land, Kalyan Lakshmi, new residential school and women's degree college, Asara pension, health-oriented schemes like drinking water, KCR kit, cheap Bijam hostel, SC Various innovative schemes like irrigation and other community-oriented infrastructure schemes are raised by the government for the development of reserves. For the year 2018-19, the fiscal year period of special development is 16452.79 million, which is 15.71% of the total expenditure of the annual budget of 2018-19 (1075757.90 corers).

This is a historic step, yet it has been seen how well the plans are made but if they can not apply them well on the ground then these plans are of no use. In India, many schemes and laws were made in seventy years, but the administrative system of the country was not able to apply them properly at the grassroots, due to which the plans could not fulfill its objectives. These plans are also facing these challenges in the state of Telangana. In many parts of the state, the complaints by the people and the civil society organizations are being carried out in the administration that the plans are not reaching the ground level.

But we know that we have to face the many difficulties and challenges in achieving any goal. If the Central Government and all state governments, if they work together for a marginalized community and work together in harmony, then the country can soon emerge from the swamps of social and economic inequality,  poverty, hunger, and unemployment.  

By Gajraj Solakee