Although the nature of problems faced by the scheduled tribes was well recognized by the authors of the Constitution of India, they had to wait for more than half a century to get the real attention. A new Ministry of Tribal Affairs was created in October 1999, headed by a Cabinet Minister, for a focused attention on tribal issues and to plan, administer and supervise the programmes, projects and schemes for the development and welfare of the tribal communities. Since then this Ministry has taken a number of steps to develop a sense of belonging among the political and government executives on one hand and the tribal community on the other.
The Constitution of India has provided many safeguards to the tribal communities for their political, educational, cultural, economic, and social development. As they are considered a weaker section of the society, there are quite a number of safeguards to protect them from social injustices and exploitation. In order to avail constitutional safeguards and government facilities, a number of communities have been declared as Scheduled Tribes (STs) as per the Constitutional provisions. Most of the communities were listed as STs in early 1950s. Till now only a few small amendments have been carried out to modify the ST list to confer the ST status on the hitherto left-out tribal communities. More than one thousand proposals for inclusion in the list of STs were processed as per the procedure established by the Cabinet and 140 cases were selected for inclusion, exclusion or change of name. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Amendment) Act, 2002 received the assent of the President on 7th January 2003. This exercise was done after a gap of nearly five decades.
Clause(1) of Article 339 of the Constitution provides for appointment of a Commission to review the policies, programmes and constitutional safeguards meant for the tribals and advises the Government to frame future strategy for the tribals’ welfare. Although this Commission is supposed to be set up after a gap of every ten years, the only such Commission was constituted in 1960. A Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission was constituted under the aforesaid provisions of the Constitution in July 2002. The tenure of the Commission is for one year. Its terms of reference are to examine the constitutional provisions, review the functioning of policies, programmes and schemes, scrutinize the tribal sub-plan, examine the social-political and administrative set up and any other matter connected with the administration of the Scheduled Areas or the welfare of STs in the States and Union Territories.
With a view to providing safeguards against the exploitation of the SCs and STs and to promote and protect their social, educational, economic and cultural interests, special provisions were made in the Constitution and a statutory National Commission for SCs and STs came into being in 1990. Keeping in view the distinct nature of the problems faced by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the Cabinet approved the establishment of a separate National Commission for STs as per the Constitutional provisions under Article 338. A bill was introduced in Parliament.
Schemes
All the Central sector and Centrally-sponsored schemes were modified to make them effective, efficient and pragmatic. Modifications have been carried out in the scheme of grants-in-aid under Article 275(1) of the Constitution. Unlike in the previous years, grants are now given project-wise with the Centre’s approval for promoting the welfare of the STs in the States or raising the level of administration of the scheduled areas therein to that of the administration of the rest of the areas of that State. In order to improve the institutional set up for the implementation of the provisions of the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), special incentive is given under this scheme to the States implementing it properly.
Grants-in-aid to the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are now given in a transparent manner. However, for funding Established Voluntary Agencies (EVAs), a liberal method is followed. The partnership between the Ministry and the NGOs has been strengthened in implementing projects in the field of education, health and economic uplift of the tribals. Now more than eight hundred NGOs are implementing thousands of projects in all corners of the country. The Ministry is funding the EVAs for construction of infrastructure as a special incentive for their services to the weaker sections of our society.
The National Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Finance Development Corporation was bifurcated and a new corporation called National Scheduled Tribes Finance Development Corporation (NSTDFC) was set up in April, 2001 with an authorized share capital of Rs. 500 crore. This apex organization has been created to provide financial assistance on easy terms to the STs for schemes or projects to run income-generating activities. It also provides grants through the State Channelising Agencies (SCAs) for undertaking training programmes for entrepreneurial development of eligible STs and to upgrade the skills of officials of the SCAs through periodic training. In a short span of two years, this Corporation has provided loans, working capital assistance and special incentive to the SCAs for making 100 per cent timely repayment to NSFDC. It has also introduced a new scheme for the poor tribal women called Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana
The Constitution of India has provided many safeguards to the tribal communities for their political, educational, cultural, economic, and social development. As they are considered a weaker section of the society, there are quite a number of safeguards to protect them from social injustices and exploitation. In order to avail constitutional safeguards and government facilities, a number of communities have been declared as Scheduled Tribes (STs) as per the Constitutional provisions. Most of the communities were listed as STs in early 1950s. Till now only a few small amendments have been carried out to modify the ST list to confer the ST status on the hitherto left-out tribal communities. More than one thousand proposals for inclusion in the list of STs were processed as per the procedure established by the Cabinet and 140 cases were selected for inclusion, exclusion or change of name. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Amendment) Act, 2002 received the assent of the President on 7th January 2003. This exercise was done after a gap of nearly five decades.
Clause(1) of Article 339 of the Constitution provides for appointment of a Commission to review the policies, programmes and constitutional safeguards meant for the tribals and advises the Government to frame future strategy for the tribals’ welfare. Although this Commission is supposed to be set up after a gap of every ten years, the only such Commission was constituted in 1960. A Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission was constituted under the aforesaid provisions of the Constitution in July 2002. The tenure of the Commission is for one year. Its terms of reference are to examine the constitutional provisions, review the functioning of policies, programmes and schemes, scrutinize the tribal sub-plan, examine the social-political and administrative set up and any other matter connected with the administration of the Scheduled Areas or the welfare of STs in the States and Union Territories.
With a view to providing safeguards against the exploitation of the SCs and STs and to promote and protect their social, educational, economic and cultural interests, special provisions were made in the Constitution and a statutory National Commission for SCs and STs came into being in 1990. Keeping in view the distinct nature of the problems faced by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the Cabinet approved the establishment of a separate National Commission for STs as per the Constitutional provisions under Article 338. A bill was introduced in Parliament.
Schemes
All the Central sector and Centrally-sponsored schemes were modified to make them effective, efficient and pragmatic. Modifications have been carried out in the scheme of grants-in-aid under Article 275(1) of the Constitution. Unlike in the previous years, grants are now given project-wise with the Centre’s approval for promoting the welfare of the STs in the States or raising the level of administration of the scheduled areas therein to that of the administration of the rest of the areas of that State. In order to improve the institutional set up for the implementation of the provisions of the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), special incentive is given under this scheme to the States implementing it properly.
Grants-in-aid to the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are now given in a transparent manner. However, for funding Established Voluntary Agencies (EVAs), a liberal method is followed. The partnership between the Ministry and the NGOs has been strengthened in implementing projects in the field of education, health and economic uplift of the tribals. Now more than eight hundred NGOs are implementing thousands of projects in all corners of the country. The Ministry is funding the EVAs for construction of infrastructure as a special incentive for their services to the weaker sections of our society.
The National Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Finance Development Corporation was bifurcated and a new corporation called National Scheduled Tribes Finance Development Corporation (NSTDFC) was set up in April, 2001 with an authorized share capital of Rs. 500 crore. This apex organization has been created to provide financial assistance on easy terms to the STs for schemes or projects to run income-generating activities. It also provides grants through the State Channelising Agencies (SCAs) for undertaking training programmes for entrepreneurial development of eligible STs and to upgrade the skills of officials of the SCAs through periodic training. In a short span of two years, this Corporation has provided loans, working capital assistance and special incentive to the SCAs for making 100 per cent timely repayment to NSFDC. It has also introduced a new scheme for the poor tribal women called Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana
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