02/01/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/01/2023 08:46
The Budget for FY 2023-24 was announced today. The overall outlay for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is Rs. 12461.88 cr, i.e an increase of 70.69% over the previous year's Revised Estimate (RE) of Rs.7301.00 crore. Finance Minister has made the following announcements for the betterment of Tribals :
Increase in Allocations
Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal Ministry for the overall policy, planning and coordination of programs for the development of the Scheduled Tribes. The programs and schemes of the Ministry support and supplement, through financial assistance, the efforts of other Central Ministries, the State Governments, and voluntary organizations, and fill critical gaps taking into account the needs of Scheduled Tribes. To enable the Ministry to achieve its objectives, there has been enhanced budgetary allocation for the Ministry Tribal Affairs for welfare of STs over the years. The budget allocation of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been substantially increased from Rs.4295.94 crore in 2013-14 to Rs.12461.88 crore in 2023-24 i.e.an increase of around 190.01 %.
Under Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) now known as Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST), besides Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 41 Ministries/ Departments are allocating funds in the range of 4.3 to 17.5 per cent of their total scheme allocation every year for tribal development projects relating to education, health, agriculture, irrigation, roads, housing, electrification, employment generation, skill development, etc. DAPST fund allocation has increased about five and half times since 2013-14 (from Rs.21,525.36 crore (Actual Expenditure) in 2013-14 to Rs.1,17,943.73 crore in BE 2023-24).
Shri Arjun Munda, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, noted that, "I congratulate Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman for declaring a comprehensive Budget that focuses on tribal affairs and related concerns. This budget emphasises on the provision of various benefits and equal opportunities for tribals in remote regions of our country, reaching the last mile. Considering this vision, our Ministry has prepared a roadmap for the upliftment, empowerment, and welfare of tribals and will collaborate with other central Ministries for building a strong and progressive India."
The focus of Government has been overall development of STs and bringing them at par with the other communities in the country. Government has taken various steps for the development of tribals under DAPST of the schemes of the obligated Ministries/Department. There have been considerable improvements in socio-economic conditions of the Scheduled Tribes (STs), for example, literacy rate for STs has improved from 59% (Census) in 2011 to 71.6% (as per Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report (July 2020 - June 2021), bringing down the gap between overall and ST literacy from 14 percent between 2001-2011 to 7.5 percent between 2011-2021. Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at upper Primary level has improved from 91.3 (2013-14) to 98 (2021-22); GER for ST students at secondary level (IX-X) has increased from 70.2 (2013-14) to 78.1 (2021-22); GER for ST students at senior secondary level (XI-XII) has increased from 35.4 (2013-14) to 52.0 (2021-22) and GER for ST students at higher education level has increased from 13.7 (2014-15) to 18.9 (2020-21).
The Scheme-wise allocation for 2023-24 is as under:
Name of Scheme |
BE 2023-24 |
SCA to TSP (Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna-PMAAGY) |
1485.00 |
Grants under Article 275 (1) |
1472.10 |
Grants to ASSAM Govt.under clause (a) of the Second proviso to Article 275 (1) of the Constitution |
0.01 |
Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) |
5943.00 |
Aid to Voluntary Organizations working for the Scheduled Tribes |
140.00 |
Marketing and Logistics Development for Promoting Tribal Products from North-Eastern Region |
20.00 |
Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission (PMJVM) |
288.49 |
Venture Capital Fund for STs |
30.00 |
Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTGs) |
256.14 |
Support to Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) |
118.64 |
National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students |
145.00 |
Scholarship to the ST Students for Studies Abroad |
4.00 |
Pre-Matric Scholarship |
411.63 |
Post-Matric Scholarship |
1970.77 |
Tribal Festivals, Research Information & Mass Education [Tribal Research, Information, Education, Communication & Events (TRI-ECE)] |
25.00 |
Monitoring and Evaluation (MESSA) |
23.00 |
Administrative Cost to States/ UTs. |
53.22 |
Total (Schemes) |
12386.00 |
Important Programmes
New EMRS schools are being constructed at a unit cost of Rs.38 Crore in plain areas and Rs.48 Crore in hilly and difficult areas.
After making a new Central Sector Scheme of EMRS since 2019, 402 new EMRSs have been sanctioned. It is targeted to establish 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools in blocks with 50% or more and 20,000 ST Population.
Already about 400 EMRSs have become functional with over 1,13,000 students, of whom over 57,000 are girls.
These EMRSs will have facilities for nurturing the natural sports talent of the tribal students. There will be provisions of science and computer labs, skill development, art, craft and music.
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