MLAs worry over under-utilisation of funds in tribal areas

Jaipur: Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) has reminded the state government to spend all the budgetary allocation under Tribal Sub-Plan by the end of the financial year. In a letter to the governor and the CMO, the party said that a portion of funds from central and state remain unutilised every year leading to poor development of tribal populace.
Vela Ram Ghogra, president of BTP Rajasthan, said, “One of our promise is the utilisation of all budgetary allocations in three states like Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.We have demanded from chief minister Ashok Gehlot that distribution of resources should be decentralised and should be distributed under tribal commissioner office in Udaipur. Also, more officers should be deputed to expedite the work.”
Ghogra accused that every year 30-40% funds are unutilised due to complex administrative setup. “It is one reason why everything has been delayed, from setting up of schools, healthcare centres, scholarships, administrative reforms and most importantly expediting the land ownership process under Forest Rights Act,” said Ghogra in a letter. State has lion’s share of 8.8% of the total tribal population of the country.
The letter also said that the tribal university doesn’t offer any course on their language and culture, which was promised by Ashok Gehlot government during its previous tenure. The university was announced with an aim to create an academic-cum-research centre for tribal populace. Rajkumar Roat, BTP MLA from Chorasi, Dungarpur said that the university is running like any other institute. “It is meaningless for the tribal populace as they can study regular courses in other colleges. The university has not initiated anything substantial for the tribal population. I urge the state to recall their promise of developing a state of art world class university which seems to be a distinct dream,” said Roat.