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-The Times of India
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 The Centre is mulling a law to ensure that 22.5% of the Union Budget is exclusively spent for dalit and tribal welfare, a move seen as an outreach to the Congress support base that is bristling at the party's failure on the flagship demand to restore reservation in promotions. 
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A law on dalit and tribal sub-plans would go beyond the symbolic to bind the government to spend for these groups in proportion to their population. 
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Presently, the SC sub-plan (SCSP) and tribal sub-plan (TSP) are governed by executive orders, seen by observers as the reason behind their failing to take off after three decades. 
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In a significant move, the Union social justice ministry has constituted a working group to thrash out &quot;central legislation on SCSP and TSP for their effective implementation&quot;. Significantly, the panel has been asked to give its report by April-end, a short deadline that insiders say points to the urgency of legislating. 
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The sub-plans mandate every central ministry or department to spend around 15% and 7.5% of their budget exclusively for dalits and tribals. The schemes have been unsuccessful because of indifference of officialdom and unceasing disputes about which ministry has to spend how much. 
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Many believe a penal provision in the proposed law can be the catalyst to force the government to hammer out nitty-gritties and enforce implementation for fear of punishment. 
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While the law, especially with penal provision, has been long advocated by activists and strongly resisted by bureaucracy, Congress seems to be eyeing its political potential ahead of the 2014 elections. The 'Jaipur declaration' after the 'chintan shivir' demanded a central legislation for effective implementation of sub-plans that suffer from &quot;insufficient allocation and utilization&quot;. 
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A statutory status for 'dalit budget' can help in wooing SCs/STs who are angry at Congress not restoring 'promotion quota' because of the wishes of OBC leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and its own upper caste lobby. Ideologues believe that Congress did not try hard enough to push the constitutional amendment bill and instead shot from the shoulders of SP and BJP. 
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That the law has emerged as a sort of silver bullet in Congress strategy is evident from Andhra Pradesh promulgating it in December. Sources said Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has cited it as &quot;priority agenda&quot;. 
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The twin plans have been mired in bureaucratic resistance and differences. Ahead of the unveiling of the 12th Plan, Union social justice ministry accused the Planning Commission of including the expenditure of exempted ministries to boost the achievements under sub-plans. 
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The government decided to factor in 'estimated consumption proportion of SCs' to show it under the sub-plan - like how much did the dalits use a road or an airport to include it as money spent under the sub-plan.
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