The Indian Express: Mumbai: Tuesday, 16 August 2022.
Lack of funds in scam-hit Sahityaratna Lokshahir Anna Bhau Sathe Development Corporation, set up to assist the Matang community who are Scheduled Castes (SC) in Maharashtra, has not only led to rejection of a number of applicants seeking financial assistance but even the number of beneficiaries has gone down in the last five years.
A query filed under Right to Information (RTI) Act by Kuldeep Ambekar president of Student Helping Hand, an organisation working for the welfare of marginalised students has revealed that out of the 21,312 applications seeking grants from 2017-18 to 2021-22, only 5,094 received the benefits. For the corporation’s seed capital plan, 20,031 applications were received between 2015-16 and 2021-22 but only 2,707 applicants benefited.
Under the National Schedule Caste Financial Development Corporation (NSFDC) scheme, only 76 applications were received from 2015-16 and all received the benefits. The RTI reply shows that while the corporation did not receive funds for the grant scheme from 2017-18, no funds have been released for the seed capital scheme and the NSFDC scheme since 2015-16.
“The corporation was sidelined in terms of granting funds. It led to rejection of applications filed by individuals and ultimately, the number of applicants has gone down,” said Ambekar.
He added that the number of applicants for the grant scheme has been on a downward path since 2017-18, when 6,095 applications were received. During 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, the number of applicants for this scheme were 5,411, 3,935, 3,343 and 2,528, respectively.
For the seed capital scheme, which did not receive funds from 2015-16, the number of applicants has come down from 3,136 that year to 1,643 in 2021-22. In case of NSFDC, no applications were received in the last three fiscals.
The corporation was formed under the social justice department on July 11, 1985, to improve living standards in terms of education, financial status and social development of the Matangs. It was hit by an alleged scam in 2011-14 and former NCP MLA Ramesh Kadam who then headed the corporation was arrested in 2015.
“It is true that ever since the scam broke, funds have not been released for many schemes,” said an official from the social justice department.
The cut on funds started by the BJP-led government continued even during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime. “The MVA government came to power and Covid-19 pandemic hit the state. It put everything else on the backtrack, including revival of the corporation. The MVA government did sanction Rs 1,000 crore for the corporation but before the file was cleared by the finance department, the government fell,” the officer said.
Dr Dhananjay Bhise, founder president of Matang Sahitya Parishad, said that the needy people of the community are facing injustice as the corporation’s work has almost stopped. “We expect a thorough inquiry into the scam. But what about the needy who are suffering? People come with expectations and face rejection. The new government should sort this out,” he added.
Lack of funds in scam-hit Sahityaratna Lokshahir Anna Bhau Sathe Development Corporation, set up to assist the Matang community who are Scheduled Castes (SC) in Maharashtra, has not only led to rejection of a number of applicants seeking financial assistance but even the number of beneficiaries has gone down in the last five years.
A query filed under Right to Information (RTI) Act by Kuldeep Ambekar president of Student Helping Hand, an organisation working for the welfare of marginalised students has revealed that out of the 21,312 applications seeking grants from 2017-18 to 2021-22, only 5,094 received the benefits. For the corporation’s seed capital plan, 20,031 applications were received between 2015-16 and 2021-22 but only 2,707 applicants benefited.
Under the National Schedule Caste Financial Development Corporation (NSFDC) scheme, only 76 applications were received from 2015-16 and all received the benefits. The RTI reply shows that while the corporation did not receive funds for the grant scheme from 2017-18, no funds have been released for the seed capital scheme and the NSFDC scheme since 2015-16.
“The corporation was sidelined in terms of granting funds. It led to rejection of applications filed by individuals and ultimately, the number of applicants has gone down,” said Ambekar.
He added that the number of applicants for the grant scheme has been on a downward path since 2017-18, when 6,095 applications were received. During 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, the number of applicants for this scheme were 5,411, 3,935, 3,343 and 2,528, respectively.
For the seed capital scheme, which did not receive funds from 2015-16, the number of applicants has come down from 3,136 that year to 1,643 in 2021-22. In case of NSFDC, no applications were received in the last three fiscals.
The corporation was formed under the social justice department on July 11, 1985, to improve living standards in terms of education, financial status and social development of the Matangs. It was hit by an alleged scam in 2011-14 and former NCP MLA Ramesh Kadam who then headed the corporation was arrested in 2015.
“It is true that ever since the scam broke, funds have not been released for many schemes,” said an official from the social justice department.
The cut on funds started by the BJP-led government continued even during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime. “The MVA government came to power and Covid-19 pandemic hit the state. It put everything else on the backtrack, including revival of the corporation. The MVA government did sanction Rs 1,000 crore for the corporation but before the file was cleared by the finance department, the government fell,” the officer said.
Dr Dhananjay Bhise, founder president of Matang Sahitya Parishad, said that the needy people of the community are facing injustice as the corporation’s work has almost stopped. “We expect a thorough inquiry into the scam. But what about the needy who are suffering? People come with expectations and face rejection. The new government should sort this out,” he added.