The Government have announced a rise in budgets allocated for the welfare of Dalits (Scheduled Castes) and Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes) in India, however human rights activists are saying that the rise is irrelevant as the allocations are not in fact benefitting those they are suppoused to be aimed at.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave on 1-2 March Paul Divakar of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) commented that,
“It is all a mirage. While funds are being allocated on paper, only about 2 per cent of this is actually being spent on Dalit issues.”
IDSN Board Member Beena Pallical (NCDHR) and long-time campaigner against the caste-based practice of manual scavenging, Bezwada Wilson, also spoke at the Conclave.