Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged the Centre to bring in a policy on the lines of the Karnataka government's amended SC/ST Act, which enables allotment of funds based on the population of each community.
Speaking at the state level SC/ST conference organised by SC/ST coordination committee here on Thursday, Mr Siddaramaiah said that after the Act was amended, the state government could allocate over Rs 14,000 crore and provide over 1.5 lakh houses, concrete roads and drinking water.
As per the state policy, the allocated money should be utilised for the benefit of the same communities. The money has to be spent in the allocated financial year itself, failing which action would be taken against the officials, he said.
Assuring the SC/ST employees that the disparity in promotions would be eliminated.
Mr Siddaramaiah said that as long as caste system prevails in the country, reservation is necessary. Taking a dig at RSS chief Mohan Bhagvat's statement on reviewing the quota system, he said that some vested interests were trying to strengthen the caste system. Such people should be concerned about the backward and downtrodden people, he added.
