Jharkhand Congress announces November 29 meeting on SC, ST issues

Ranchi, Oct 22 (UNI) Former Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee working president Bandhu Tirkey on Thursday announced a meeting on November 29 to discuss issues and demands concerning Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Addressing a press conference at Congress Bhawan, Tirkey alleged that the BJP treated SC and ST communities as vote banks and that their constitutional rights were being undermined. He claimed that budgetary allocations for their development had been reduced, funds under the Tribal Sub-Plan had been cut, and the Centre's share of pre-matric and post-matric scholarships for ST students was not being released to states on time. Tirkey…