House panel apprehensive about PM-PVTG allocation

House panel apprehensive about PM-PVTG allocation

Subject : Schemes

Concept :

• Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment expressed disappointment that such a massive budgetary allocation ( 15,000 crores ) had been planned when even the Ministry of Tribal Affairs does not have data on PVTG populations in several States and Union Territories.

PM- PVTG Development Mission

• The Finance Minister announced the launch of a new scheme called the Pradhan Mantri PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups) Development Mission as part of the Union Budget 2023-24.
• A fund of Rs 15,000 crore for the next three years has been allocated for the socio-economic development of the group.
• It will be launched as part of ‘Reaching The Last Mile’, one of the seven Saptarishi priorities enlisted in this year’s Budget.
• The PVTGs Mission aims to provide basic facilities like housing, water, road, telecom, education and health in PVTG areas across the country.
• The scheme follows the strategic approach of Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana , which is need-based and strives to optimise utilisation of resources available under various programs and aims at specific outcomes.
• Implementation: Among the ministries that are expected to be roped in along with Tribal Affairs Ministry, to implement the PM-PVTG Mission the Rural Development Ministry, the Water Resources Ministry, the Education Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Women and Child Development Ministry.

Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana (VKY)

• The Scheme was launched in 2014 as a Central Sector Scheme by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• The scheme aims at overall development of tribal people with an outcome-based approach, ensuring that all the intended benefits, goods and services through various programmes/schemes of Central and State Governments covered under the respective Tribal Sub-Plans actually reach them.

PVTG:

Particularly vulnerable tribal group

• 75 tribal groups have been categorized categorized by Ministry of Home Affairs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG)s.
• The criteria for identifying Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups are: –

1. Pre-agricultural level of technology
2. Low level of literacy
3. Economic backwardness
4. A declining or stagnant population.

• PVTGs reside in 18 States and UT of A&N Islands.
• Besides a number of schemes of Government of India and the State Governments where PVTG population are also benefitted along with other population, Ministry of Tribal Affairs administers a scheme namely ‘Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG)’specifically for the PVTG population.
• The scheme covers the 75 identified PVTGs in 18 States, and Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• The scheme aims at planning their socio-economic development in a comprehensive manner while retaining the culture and heritage of the communities by adopting habitat level development approach.
• The projects taken up under this scheme are demand driven.