The Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the Congress government of “hoodwinking” Dalits by diverting funds meant for their welfare to other works, including the functioning of the H.N. Nagamohan Das Commission.Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said the government had earmarked ₹42,000 crore for Dalits’ welfare under Scheduled Castes Sub-Allocation & Tribal-Sub Allocation Act that mandates earmarking funds for the welfare of SC/ST communities in proportion to their population.Of this, ₹21,000 had been diverted to all the departments for taking up various works. Of the remaining ₹21,000 crore, a sum of ₹ 14,000 crore had been diverted to fund guarantee schemes, he alleged.“The remaining amount of ₹7,000 crore has been given to the Social Welfare Department, which had used this for various purposes including organising the International Democracy Day and Constitution Day. These funds have been used even for the functioning of Nagamohan Das Commission that looked into internal reservation among SCs,” he alleged.Much against the claims of the government of providing huge funds for the welfare of Dalits, there were several lapses in providing benefits to Dalit beneficiaries, he alleged.Citing an example, he said earlier, the government used to directly pay the school and college fees of Dalit students. But now, the students were expected to pay their fees and get a reimbursement from the government later, he said. Published - September 26, 2025 09:19 pm IST