The budget allocation for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been increased by 70.69 % to Rs.12461.88 crore for the financial year 2023-24. This was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her presentation of the Union Budget at the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The overall outlay for the Ministry in for the previous year (2022-23) was Rs.7301.00 crore.
“..there has been enhanced budgetary allocation for the Ministry Tribal Affairs for welfare of STs over the years. The budget allocation of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been substantially increased from Rs.4295.94 crore in 2013-14 to Rs.12461.88 crore in 2023-24 i.e. an increase of around 190.01 %,” a statement from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs stated.
Arjun Munda, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs said that the budget emphasises on the provision of various benefits and equal opportunities for tribals in remote regions of our country.
Under the new Budget, Special Central Assistance (SCA) to Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) (Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna-PMAAGY) will get Rs.1485 crore.
Union Finance Minister also announced that Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) will be provided Rs.5943 Crore for accelerated construction. The project that initiated in 2019 targets to establish 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools in blocks with 50% or more and 20,000 ST Population.
New EMRS schools are being constructed at a unit cost of Rs.38 Crore in plain areas and Rs.48 Crore in hilly and difficult areas.
Further, Rs.140 crore is allocated for Aid to Voluntary Organizations working for the Scheduled Tribes, Marketing and Logistics Development for Promoting Tribal Products from North-Eastern Region will be provided Rs.20 crore, Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission (PMJVM) will get Rs.288.49 crore and Venture Capital Fund for STs has been allocated Rs.30 crore.
The Union Budget has also allocated Rs. 256.14 crore to the Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTGs), Rs. 118.64 for Support to Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs), Rs.25 crore for Tribal Festivals, Research Information & Mass Education [Tribal Research, Information, Education, Communication & Events (TRI-ECE), and Rs.23 crore for Monitoring and Evaluation (MESSA).
Moreover, Rs.145 crore is set aside for National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students, Rs.4 crore for Scholarship to the ST Students for Studies Abroad, Rs. 411.63 crore for Pre-Matric Scholarship and Rs.1970.77 for Post-Matric Scholarship.
Besides all the allocations for various schemes for the development of STs in the country, the Union Budget will also provide Rs.53.22 crore as Administrative Cost to States/ UTs.
