Karnataka's Congress government yet to release major funds for Minority Welfare Programs
Despite Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s announcement of a 33% increase in the 2025–26 budget allocation for minorities, many flagship programs and schemes launched with much fanfare remain unfulfilled due to inefficient fund utilization by the Minority Welfare Department and poor fund allocation by the Government of Karnataka.
Important welfare programmes for minorities promised in the Chief Minister's budget speech 2025-26?
● An action plan for Rs. 1,000 crore prepared under Chief Minister’s Minority Colony Development Programme with multiple works to be implemented in the year 2025-26.
● Construction of multi-purpose halls across the state for the minority communities to organize cultural and social activities.
● A PU college with hostel facility to be started in Ullal for girl students belonging to minority communities.
● 16 new women's colleges in vacant plots of Waqf institutions to support higher education of minority women.
Major programs announced, but minor funds released
As per the minority department's own report till October, major welfare programs are yet to receive a significant portion of the fund that was allocated to the minorities.
● Out of the 715 crores allocated for the Chief Minister's Special Development Programme for Minorities, only 178.75 crores has been released, which amounts to just 25% of the total fund released.
● Similarly, out of the 400 crores allocated for the minority slum and colony development programme in urban areas, only 100 crores has been released, which again amounts to just 25% of fund released.
● For the construction of additional rooms to Moulana Azad Schools 100 crores was allocated, out of which just 50 crores has been released to the minority department.
Minority welfare department's failure to utilize available funds, who is to blame?
The government has been dragging its feet in releasing the promised funds for minority welfare while the Minority Welfare Department has miserably failed to effectively utilize even the limited funds received.
Such bureaucratic neglect and inefficiency is becoming a major roadblock in the social and economic progress of Karnataka’s minority communities. Here are few examples:
● The Vidyasiri scholarship scheme that aims to provide food and accommodation assistance to minority students, offering a stipend of Rs. 1,500 per month for 10 months had 50% fund released by the Government amounting to 25 crore. Shockingly, the utilization has been 0% till October.
● Under the scheme for providing quality education in madrasas, the minority department received 50% funds amounting to 17.5 crore. The utilization again has been 0% here.
● Out of the 178.75 crore received under Chief Minister's Special Development Programme for Minorities only 103 crores has been spent, The utilization here is 57.6%.
The Need to Introspect and correct before its late
With half the year already gone, the government is lagging behind in ensuring that the intended programmes for the upliftment of minorities get completed in the current year. Is this delay the result of poor planning, lack of accountability or deliberate inefficiency?
To set things right, there is a strong need for the government to introspect on what's going wrong, immediately release the complete fund and ensure 100% utilization.
It is also the duty of Karnataka State Minority Commission to monitor, study and ensure that all welfare programs for minorities are executed efficiently and achieve the desired outcomes.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
