#Budget2018: Increase in funds for Dalits, Tribals in Union Budget

New Delhi: The allocation of funds for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) has been increased to Rs 56,619 crore and Rs 39,135 crore respectively, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said during his Budget presentation on Thursday.

"I propose to earmark allocation of (Rs) 56,619 crore for SCs and (Rs) 39,135 crore for STs in the BE of 2018-19," Jaitley said.

Jaitley said that allocation to SCs was for 279 programmes for the community and the allocation to STs was for 305 programmes for the section.

Also read: India to grow at 8% soon, focus on education, healthcare, agri: Jaitley

In 2017-18, the RE (revised estimate) of earmarked allocation for SCs was Rs 52,719 crore and Rs 32,508 for STs, Jaitley said.