The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley while presenting the General Budget 2017-18 in Parliament today said that the Government is giving special importance to implementation of the Schemes for welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities. The allocation for the welfare of Scheduled Castes has been stepped-up from Rs. 38,833 crores in BE 2016-17 to Rs. 52,393 crores in 2017-18, representing an increase of about 35%. The allocation for Scheduled Tribes has been increased to Rs. 31,920 crores and for Minority Affairs to Rs.4,195 crores. The Government will introduce outcome based monitoring of expenditure in these sectors by the NITI Aayog.
The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley stated that for senior citizens, Aadhar based Smart Cards containing their health details will be introduced. A beginning will be made through a pilot in 15 districts during 2017-18. The LIC will implement a scheme for senior citizens to provide assured pension, with a guaranteed return of 8% per annum for 10 years.