NEW DELHI, 11 Feb: Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda on Friday said that his ministry is ready with a “result-oriented” action plan for the welfare and uplift of the members of the scheduled tribes with “a substantial increase” in its budgetary allocations for 2022-23.
Addressing a press conference, he said that his ministry will roll out a programme in coordination with other ministries and states to turn 36,428 tribal-inhabited villages into model villages in five years, starting with 7,500 such villages this year.
The Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana seeks to ensure comprehensive development of the villages, based on the identified gaps. Villages with at least 50 percent tribal population have been selected under the programme, he said.
“The targets have been set under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for coming days for implementation of development and welfare for the scheduled tribes and the areas dominated by them,” he told reporters.
A senior official of the ministry said that the finance ministry has earmarked Rs 8,451.92 crores for his ministry in the union budget for 2022-23, “a substantial increase” by 12.32 percent over the last fiscal. The finance ministry had earmarked Rs 7,524.87 crores for 2021-22.
Besides, over Rs 87,000 crores has been allocated under the schedule tribe component for 2022-23 as against Rs 78,256 crores in the last fiscal. A total of 41 union ministries are required to incur this expenditure for the welfare of the scheduled tribes and development of the tribal areas, the official added.
“In the next five years, our target is to implement a new scheme of turning 38,428 villages with over 50 percent tribal population into adarsh (model) villages. We will work with other ministries to implement the programme. For this year, a total of 7,500 villages have been selected,” the minister said.
A ministry official said that the union cabinet had last month approved continuation of a total of 14 central sector and centrally sponsored schemes till 31 March, 2026, with total financial outlay of Rs 3,344 crores for the National Tribal Welfare Programme, Rs 28,920 crores for Eklavya Model Residential Schools and Rs 26,135 crores for the Pradhan Mantri Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana.
“While working in coordination with other ministries for the development of the villages, we will ensure that members of the scheduled tribes, including children, youth and elderly, avail benefits of all the schemes, including that of the tribal affairs ministry,” Munda said.
He said his ministry will also keep up its focus on implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Jatiye Vikas Mission, which seeks to achieve livelihood-driven tribal development in the next five years.
Besides, Munda said, his ministry will also implement a programme in coordination with the union health ministry for eradication of sickle cell disease prevalent among the tribal population due to certain genetic disorder. (PTI)
