Cabinet approves Rs 24k-cr tribal welfare scheme

The scheme provides for around 4.9 lakh pucca houses at a cost of Rs 2.39 lakh per house; 500 hostels at Rs 2.75 crore per unit; 2,500 Anganwadi centres; installation of mobile towers in 3,000 villages; and 8,000 km of road connectivity, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs said.

The Union Cabinet cleared the scheme Tuesday night. The Centre’s share is Rs 15,336 crore and states will contribute Rs 8,768 crore. Nine ministries will be involved in carrying out the interventions.

The government will make Rs 15,000 available under the Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes to implement the mission over the next three years, said a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister had announced the scheme on tribal icon Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary on November 15, which is marked as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas. The announcement was made in the leader’s birthplace, Jharkhand’s Khunti district.

As many as 75 tribal communities in 18 states and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been categorised as PVTGs, which are backward in social, economic and education indicators. As per the 2011 Census, India has a total Scheduled Tribe population of 10.45 crore.

According to data from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the 2011 Census, Odisha has the largest population of PVTGs at 8.66 lakh, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 6.09 lakh and Andhra Pradesh (which then included Telangana) at 5.39 lakh. The total PVTG population is more than 40 lakh.

The mission was first mentioned in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech of 2023-24.

It also entails the Ministry of Ayush setting up wellness centres in these areas as per existing norms, and the extension of Ayush facilities to PVTG habitations through mobile medical units. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship will also enable skill and vocational training in PVTG habitations.