India News | Govt Programmes on Tribal Welfare Outcome Driven: Minister

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) A bill seeking to include the 'Darlong' community as a sub-tribe of the 'Kuki' in the list of Scheduled Tribes of Tripura was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday, with the government asserting that its programmes for tribal welfare are outcome driven and constant efforts are being made to ensure development reaches all.

Moving the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in Lok Sabha, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the Union government is working towards betterment of living conditions of the tribal community, and good results will be visible on the health, education and employment fronts.

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The government is committed to the development of tribal areas and sufficient funds have been allocated for the purpose, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that without the development of tribal land and tribals, comprehensive development of the country is not possible, Munda said.

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Responding to issues flagged by members during the course of the debate, he said the Union information and technology ministry recently came up with a plan to develop broadband and 4G connectivity in aspirational districts.

Funds for it will be allocated under the Scheduled Tribes component, Munda said.

On the issue of healthcare of tribals, he said the issue assumes importance for the government and recently the ICMR was allocated funds for research into the field.

Asserting that more funds are available for education today than in the past, Munda said while the number of Eklavya Model Schools was 160 in 2014, the number now stands at over 365.

He said 700 plus schools will be established in the five years for which budgetary allocation has been made.

During the debate, Opposition members made a strong pitch for a comprehensive legislation for inclusion of various castes from states into Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) rather than doing it in a piecemeal manner.

Speaking during the debate, A Raja of the DMK said there has been little upliftment of many SCs and STs despite there being various mechanisms in place since Independence.

This is a matter of concern, he said.

There are many castes which are economically and socially backward in states and there is an urgent need for their inclusion in these specialised category, Raja said.

"Please get details from all states and have holistic study. After the study, you list out which communities can be included in the SCs and STs," he said.

Pradyut Bordoloi of the Congress said there are many other communities including from Assam who have been demanding inclusion in the SC and the ST categories.

He also made a case for caste census so that government has data for inclusion of more communities in the SC and the ST lists.

Quoting a parliamentary committee report, Bordoloi said the panel has noted that the National Commission of STs is dysfunctional for the last four years and it has not released a single report.

Shiv Sena member Arvind Sawant wondered as to why the government is bringing the bill for one community from one state when similar demands from various communities are pending.

He claimed that with the government vigorously pursuing privatisation, what purpose would an SC or ST list serve when there would be no public sector left.

G Madhvi of the YSRCP also said the government should desist from privatisation.

With the proposed privatisation of the Vizag Steel plant as many as 4,000 SCs and STs would lose their job, the member said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)