Projects exclusively for SC/ST development formed just 0.18% of KIIFB’s total outlay: expert committee

Allocations for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities have been abysmally low under the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the committee headed by former bureaucrat Sudha Pillai, which carried out a comprehensive review of KIIFB, has found.

A mere 0.18% of KIIFB’s approved outlay and 0.21% of the amount released were allocated to projects exclusively for SC/ST development, the Committee, whose report was tabled in the Assembly by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Thursday, found.

The Committee found that, as on June 30, 2026, KIIFB had approved ten projects for SC/ST development with an outlay of ₹182 crore, which accounted for roughly 0.18% of the total approved amount. Of this, only ₹87 crore had been released, roughly 0.21% of the total released amount by KIIFB for projects.

When placed against the statutory benchmark of 12.64% of Plan outlay prescribed for the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) together, that only 0.18% of KIIFB’s approved outlay and 0.21% of the amount released by it was allocated to projects exclusively for SC/ST development is a matter of concern, according to the panel.

The absence of an “explicit and enforceable equity safeguard” comparable to the SCSP/TSP mechanism constitutes a policy gap that warrants attention by the Finance department and the State Planning Board, it said.

The committee did not find any provision that required KIIFB-financed infrastructure investment to be allocated in proportions similar to those prescribed under the sub-plans. “Had KIIFB’s infrastructure spending been subject to a binding allocation requirement comparable to that applicable under the SCSP/TSP, SC/ST development would have received a substantially larger share of KIIFB’s resources than it actually received,” it said.

For protecting SC/ST communities, Keralam’s Five-Year Plans include the SCSP and TSP, which require resources to be earmarked from the State plan outlay in proportion to the share of SC/ST populations. Together (SCSP 9.81% and STP 2.83%) they constitute at least 12.64% of the total plan outlay.