Question : National Commission for Tribes

(a) the steps taken by the Government to create awareness about the schemes/rights/safeguards given as per the Constitutional provisions under the Act 338A for expanding the reach/scope of work allocated to ensure that;
(b) whether the existing network through Regional offices of National Commission for Tribes (NCST) is sufficient;
(c) if so, the details of the work carried out since last three years in each regional office of NCST; and
(d) if not, whether the Government proposes expansion through setting up new Regional offices of the NCST to effectively cater the services to the tribal and if so, the details thereof?

(a) to (d):The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has its head quarter at New Delhi and six Regional Offices, located in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Raipur, Ranchi and Shillong which work as "eyes and ears" of the Commission. They also work as point of contact for the Scheduled Tribes of the States where they are located and a large number of STs come there with their grievances. The Members of the Commission and officials visit the tribal areas across the country and make people aware about the role and functions assigned to the Commission under the Constitution of India. They also address print and electronic media during such visits. Besides above, Handbooks and Pamphlets have also been published for publicity of the roles and functions of the Commission.







With a view to providing information about the functioning of the Commission to the tribal petitioners who visit the Commission, an Information and Facilitation Centre (I&FC) has been set up at the entry point of the Headquarter office of the Commission. In order to enable the poor

tribal people living in different parts of the country to contact the officers of this Commission and also to send their grievances/ complaints, a Toll Free telephone number 1 800 11 7777 has been commissioned on which the Commission can be contacted free of cost from BSNL/MTNL landline telephones from anywhere in the country.
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has developed a software to facilitate web enabled grievance redressal system. This portal has been made operational w.e.f. 31.12.2020. This initiative will facilitate ease of filing a complaint in the Commission by any aggrieved person belonging to Scheduled Tribes community or their representatives and it will also facilitate them in getting updates on progress/status of the case. The portal for lodging the complaints in the Commission is https://ncstgrans.gov.in/public/Home.aspx
Recently, NCST had organized awareness camps in various States for creating awareness among the Scheduled Tribes about Role and Functions of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes in the month of March, 2021.

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