25-04-2025
About 300 Dalit entrepreneurs awaiting allocation of land for seven years: KDEA
The Karnataka Dalit Entrepreneurs Association (KDEA) on Friday alleged that about 300 Dalit entrepreneurs are awaiting allocation of land for the past seven years even after paying advance amount.
'Injustice is being meted out to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes entrepreneurs in the name of bulk allocation. The decision taken in September 2014 to earmark 25% of the land in the old industrial areas has not been adhered to. There is a backlog of 271.8 acres to be distributed among Dalit entrepreneurs in areas developed after 2009,' KDEA working president C.G. Srinivasan told presspersons here. He accused the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board of providing industrial sites that are in dispute or without infrastructure, and that the board was not considering reservation in total sites available.
He said the State government has set aside just 1% of the total allocation of about ₹42,018 crore for the Industries Department under the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal-Sub Plan (SCSP/TSP), which needs to be increased to financially empower the community members. 'Though the number of Dalit entrepreneurs has increased since 2019, the allocation remains at 1%, and dues of about ₹850 crore is pending under various schemes,' Mr. Srinivasan said.
