Rs 79K crore okayed for tribal welfare scheme

The Cabinet today cleared a scheme aimed at improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities, by adopting saturation of policies for families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts. The scheme, titled Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan, has an outlay of Rs 79,156 crore, with the Central share being Rs 56,333 crore and states’ share being Rs 22,823 crore.

It will cover around 63,000 villages, benefitting more than 5 crore tribals as was announced in the Budget speech of 2024-25 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The scheme will focus on 549 districts and 2,740 blocks spread across tribal-majority villages in 30 states and UTs, I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

India has an ST population of 10.45 crore as per 2011 census and there are more than 705 tribal communities spread across the country, living in remote and hard-to-reach areas.