Cong stages walkout over fund allocations, underutilization of funds for SCs, OBCs

Gandhinagar: Opposition Congress MLAs staged a walkout from the Gujarat assembly during question hour on Thursday, alleging that the state govt was making lower budgetary allocations for scheduled castes (SCs) and other backward castes (OBCs), and that funds allotted to these sections of society were underutilized. The opposition members returned to the House after a while.After question hour, state minister Jitu Vaghani raised a point of order, accusing Congress MLAs of speaking out of turn and interrupting social justice and empowerment (SJE) minister Manisha Vakil while she replied to questions. He was supported by ruling party MLAs Arjun Modhwadia and Ramanlal Vora, who sought disciplinary action against Congress legislators.
Speaker Shankar Chaudhary said members must seek permission before speaking and cannot insist that a minister provide a specific type of reply. He said question hour is crucial for addressing public issues and condemned the walkout. "I formally reprimand the Congress members for their conduct," he said, adding that by walking out, they also forfeited the opportunity to raise other questions listed by their party.Congress MLAs began protesting while Vakil replied to questions regarding grants allocated to 10 boards and corporations under her department. "Is the allocation done on the basis of population or the economic condition of the applicant?" asked Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar, claiming that sections of society comprising around 68% of Gujarat's population were receiving relatively lower allocations.Providing figures, Vakil said that for the past five years, boards and corporations under her department utilized Rs 322.29 crore in 2021-22, Rs 467.27 crore in 2022-23, Rs 432.02 crore in 2023-24, Rs 640.68 crore in 2024-25, and Rs 243.99 crore until Jan in the ongoing financial year. She added that apart from these funds, the department has allocations exceeding Rs 7,000 crore for schemes related to the welfare of SCs.Congress MLA Amit Chavda claimed that between 28% and 58% of funds allocated to various boards and corporations under the social justice and empowerment (SJE) remained unutilized. "Allocations are lower for these sections and, to make it worse, up to 50% of funds are not used. The minister should reply why these funds remain unused." In reply, the minister said the figures cited by her were up to Dec and that expenditure typically increased in the last months of the financial year. She attributed unspent amounts to incomplete documentation, absence of property cards, KYC-related issues, and discrepancies in applications.As exchanges between ruling party and opposition members increased, Chaudhary cautioned Congress MLAs against interrupting the minister, after which all 12 Congress MLAs staged a walkout.