Delhi: BJP hits out at Kejriwal for not spending money allocated for Dalit welfare

New Delhi, April 14 (IANS) Delhi unit BJP president Virendra Sachdeva on Monday hit out at AAP National Convenor and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for exploiting Dalits and doing little for their educational, social, and economic advancement, as reflected by the alleged under-utilisation of Rs 891 crore allocated for the purpose in the last four years.

Sachdeva said that during his 10-year rule, Kejriwal politically exploited the Dalit and oppressed communities by merely showing them Baba Saheb's pictures, while ignoring his messages.

The Delhi BJP President said that Kejriwal placed portraits of Baba Saheb in Secretariat rooms but took no interest in implementing the three educational schemes named after him or in improving the condition of Dalit colonies.

Sachdeva stated that the previous Kejriwal government limited Dalit upliftment to hoardings and photographs of Baba Saheb, showing grand dreams of improvement in Dalit colonies between 2020 and 2024.

However, while Rs 260 crore was allocated in the budget during those four years, only Rs 121 crore was spent – an amount almost equal to what the Kejriwal government spent on building a ‘palace’ for himself and furnishing ministers’ offices in the Secretariat.

During its tenure, the Kejriwal government announced three schemes under Dr. Ambedkar’s name for Dalits, backward castes, minorities, and economically weaker sections, and allocated budgets accordingly, but all of them suffered from poor implementation.

In 2020, the Kejriwal government introduced the Jai Bhim Mukhyamantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana for the welfare of Scheduled Caste students and allocated Rs 180 crore between 2020 and 2024. However, only Rs 4.4 crore was spent.

Similarly, for students from minority, caste-based backward, and economically weaker backgrounds the AAP government launched the Jai Bhim Mukhyamantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana with a budget allocation of Rs 250 crore over four years but only Rs 4.2 crore was spent.

Despite tall claims of educational upliftment, the Kejriwal government launched a third scheme – the Mukhyamantri Vidyarthi Pratibha Yojana – with an allocation of Rs 461 crore between 2020 and 2024 but only Rs 32.2 crore was spent.

Sachdeva said that today (Monday), on Babasaheb's birth anniversary, Kejriwal should come forward and tell the Dalit, minority, and economically weaker communities of Delhi as to why, out of the Rs 891 crore allocated for their educational upliftment, less than 5 per cent – just Rs 40.80 crore – was actually spent.

--IANS

rch/pgh