It’s incomprehensible as to how data of nearly 46 years is missing altogether, says Parliament panel looking into hostel scheme for Scheduled Caste students
The Hindu
Only 819 hostels — 391 for girls and 271 for boys — have been sanctioned since the BJRCY scheme’s revision in 2007, against the target of constructing one each in every Block headquarters of low literacy districts
The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Social Justice and Empowerment on Monday flayed the Union government over 46 years of missing data for the Central scheme to construct hostels for Scheduled Caste boys and girls across the country, it noted in its latest report on the scheme known as Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana (BJRCY).
While evaluating the scheme last year as well, the Committee had asked the government to provide specific data on the number of hostels constructed under the scheme since its inception in 1961 and had done so on several other occasions as well, it noted.
The committee further said that “to their utter dismay”, instead of providing updated information on hostels constructed under the scheme between 1961 to 2007, when the scheme was revised, the government said it had written to States seeking the relevant information.
“It is incomprehensible as to how data of nearly 46 years is missing altogether. The Committee are also surprised to note that hardly any action has been taken by the Department on the matter. The Committee are quite unhappy with the casual approach of the Department and direct them to take concrete measures to update the records as a routine exercise of sending letters may prove to be futile,” the panel said.
The committee further said that it was “anguished” to note that only 819 hostels (391 for girls and 271 for boys) had been sanctioned since the revision of the scheme in 2007, against the target of constructing one each in every Block headquarters of low literacy districts.
Of these 891, the committee said that just 662 hostels had been constructed, with 144 under construction and 13 having been cancelled. The panel had earlier also noted that despite further revisions to the scheme in 2018 and 2020, the “scheme seems to have hit a roadblock” as just 62 hostels had been sanctioned since then.
In its response to the panel’s concerns, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had cited the lack of proposals for hostels from State and Union Territory governments, and also said that they were constantly pushing implementing agencies to finish the work.
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