The government announced the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan on Tuesday to improve the socio-economic conditions of tribal communities in the country and increased the budgetary allocation for the ministry concerned by nearly 70 per cent.
The programme aims at achieving saturation coverage for tribal families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during her budget speech in the Lok Sabha.
It will cover 63,000 tribal villages, benefitting five crore tribals, she added.
The government has allocated Rs 13,000 crore to the tribal affairs ministry in the budget, up from Rs 7,605 crore in the previous financial year.
An amount of Rs 6,399 crore has been set aside for establishing Eklavya model residential schools to provide quality education to tribal students in remote areas.
However, the budgetary allocation for the "National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students" has decreased from Rs 230 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 165 crore in 2024-25.
The allocation for the "Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities" has been increased from Rs 2,959.43 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 6,611.69 crore in 2024-25.
Financial support for the Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAAGY) has been increased from Rs 300 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 1,000 crore in 2024-25.
Under the PMAAGY, funds are provided to states and Union territories with notified ST populations for the development and welfare of tribal people to bridge gaps in sectors such as education, health, agriculture, skill development and employment-cum-income generation.
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