Question : WELFARE OF TRIBES

(a) the details of the developmental programmes undertaken for the welfare of tribals;

(b) the financial assistance released to various Central Ministries, State Governments, Non-Governmental Organisations etc. for ameliorating the condition of Tribals, agency-wise, for the last three years and current year;

(c) whether the Government has assessed/reviewed the performance of tribal welfare programmes;

(d) if so, the details thereof; and

(e) whether any specific strategy has been chalked out to bring about speedy development among poor tribals?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (DR. TUSHAR A. CHAUDHARY)

(a) : The details of the developmental programmes undertaken for the welfare of tribals are at Annexure-I.

(b) : The details of financial assistance released for major programmes of our Ministry to various State Governments and Non Governmental Organisations for ameliorating the condition of Tribals, for the last three years and current year upto 30.11.2009, are at Annexure-II. State-wise, NGO-wise, details for the last three years are available in the Annual Report 2008-09 of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

(c) & (d) : Review of the performance of the tribal welfare programme is a continuous process and is carried out through periodic field visits, regular interactions with the State Governments, annual inspections, furnishing of periodic progress reports and utilization certificates by the implementing agencies.

(e) The Tribal Sub Plan strategy adopted since the Fifth Five Year Plan continues to operate till date, in order to bring about speedy socio-economic development among tribals, including the poor. Under this, the States are expected to provide funds which are at least equal to the percentage of tribal population to the total population in the States. In addition, the Central Government provides Special Central Assistance to TSP, as an additive to the States to bring about, more rapid economic development of tribals living below the poverty line. In pursuance of the Constitutional obligations, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs provides grants under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution to all ST populated States, with the objective of promoting the welfare of STs (primarily through bridging critical infrastructure gaps) or raising the level of administration of Scheduled Areas. Apart from providing institutional finance for schemes/projects aimed at ameliorating the condition of poor tribals, funds for tribal development are also sourced from various programmes of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs as well as the sectoral programmes of Central Ministries / Departments.