The Parliamentary Committee on welfare of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, which is on tour to Himachal Pradesh held a meeting with Chief Secretary and senior officers of the state government here today.Presiding over the meeting, The Chairman of the Committee Dr. Kirit P Solanki said that SC/ST Commission should be constituted in Himachal Pradesh on the analogy of many other state of the country. He said strict action must be initiated in the cases of atrocities against the scheduled castes and scheduled tribe. He said that a lot of incidents of atrocities are reported in the country but they are not reported properly adding that such cases should not be bypassed neither there should be compromise due to any kind of pressure. He said fast track courts should be established for speedy disposal of such cases.He expressed satisfaction over the activities being undertaken by the state government for welfare of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
Chief Secretary Vineet Chawdhary highlighted about various schemes and programmes being implemented by the state government for welfare of these sections. He said the state had 25.29 percent population of scheduled castes and 8.88 percent scheduled tribes. The state was spending 25.19 percent of the state budget on scheduled caste sub-plan while Rs. 65 crore had been earmarked under scheduled tribe sub-plan for the year 2107-18.He apprised the Committee that state Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation had been constituted to implement various schemes for social welfare of these sections. The government spent 374.54 crore to provide loan facility to 810 beneficiaries during last three years.Vineet Chawdhary said that the state government has opened a large number of schools and health institutions to facilitate the children and common citizens. The free Tele-medicine facility had been provided in tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba and Pangi. Moreover, the state government was also providing reservation in government jobs to the people of these sections.