New Delhi: In the Budget 2024-25, Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new scheme for improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities in India — The Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan.
The new scheme will cover around 63,000 villages, benefitting 5 crore tribal people. Sitharaman, however, did not mention the budgetary allocation for the scheme. The ministry is yet to finalise the plan for its implementation.
But the implementation of an earlier scheme, Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAAGY), which was launched in 2021, to provide essential facilities in tribal villages, has remained patchy.
PMAAGY, to be implemented over a period of five years (2021-26), was formulated by revamping the Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS) to provide essential facilities such as road, schools, and drinking water facility, among others, in 36,428 identified tribal villages, whose population has at least 50 percent Scheduled Tribes (STs).
The scheme is aimed at developing “model villages” by ensuring essential infrastructure through convergence of various government schemes. A sum of Rs 20.38 lakh per village will be given to states as “gap-filling” for approved activities under the scheme.
In a written response to a question by Rajya Sabha Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, minister of state for tribal affairs Durga Das Uikey said that Rs 2,828.58 crore was approved under the scheme in the first three years. As against this allocation, just Rs 2,283.32 crore has been released. Of this, Rs 1,805.90 crore is lying unspent with the states and Union territories, according to the minister’s reply.
“During 2021-22 to 2023-24, a total of 15,989 Village Development Plans (VDPs) were approved by the ministry, and an amount of Rs 2,283.32 crore was released to the states under the PMAAGY scheme,” the minister said.
In 2023-24, the budget for the scheme was revised to Rs 300 crore from the budget estimate of Rs 1,485 crore. And this fiscal year (2024-25), the Centre has allocated Rs 1,000 crore to the implementation of the scheme.
The ministry’s response shows that several states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, among others, have not utilised the funds released till date. The Centre releases funds to the account of Single Nodal Agency (SNA), which is the implementing agency for the scheme in the state.
“Due to funds being available with the states in the Single Nodal Agency account, it is not possible for the ministry to release funds to the state, which is a major challenge in smooth implementation of the scheme,” the minister further said.
ThePrint reached the tribal affairs ministry for a comment. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
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43% of development plans approved
With less than two years left in the implementation of the scheme, a large number of states are yet to prepare the VDPs, which are crucial for its implementation. Of the 36,428 tribal villages, VDPs of just 43.8 percent (15,989 villages) have been approved so far, according to the minister’s response in the Parliament.
One of the main reasons for the slow pace of implementation of the scheme is the delay in preparing VDPs, which is the first and most crucial step for the scheme’s implementation.
According to officials in the states and UTs, delay in preparation of the VDPs by gram panchayats (GPs), the lengthy approval process (as all plans have to approved by the Centre), and delay in getting fund utilisation certificates from GPs are some of the main reasons behind the slow place of the scheme’s implementation.
The slow pace of implementation of this crucial scheme was also pointed out by the parliamentary standing committee on social justice and empowerment while assessing the demand for grants (2023-24) by the tribal affairs ministry last year.
In December last year, the parliamentary panel had asked the ministry to find “viable solutions” and set timelines for implementation.
“It is a lengthy process to get works approved under the scheme. The plans have to be prepared by the gram panchayat and then sent to the Centre for approval for funds,” a senior official with the Gujarat government’s tribal development department told ThePrint.
The VDPs, as per the scheme guidelines, have to include plans for skill development and community forest development, among others. But very few states have prepared the VDPs for all the identified villages.
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Jharkhand are among the few states with 3,500-plus tribal villages covered under the PMAAGY.
In Maharashtra, for instance, there are 3,605 ST villages identified under the scheme. Of these, the VDPs of just 1,542 villages have been prepared.
Reasons behind slow pace of scheme implementation
Asked about reasons behind the slow pace of work and challenges in the implementation of the scheme in the state, Vijay Waghmare, secretary with Maharashtra government’s tribal development department, explained to ThePrint, “The VDPs are to be prepared by the GPs. The GPs often take a lot of time to prepare them. The GPs have to identify projects from the ongoing government scheme to avail the viability gap funding of Rs 20 lakh given by the Centre.
He added, “The administrative machinery was busy in recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. But we have been pushing GPs to expedite the process and the utilisation certificates would be submitted soon. We have got 1,500-plus VDPs approved and another 557 VDPs will soon be sent to the Centre for approval. The positive outcome of the entire scheme is that more than 2,000 GPs now have a road map of development in the form of a VDP.”
He further said, “According to the rules, the Centre will release funds only after utilisation certificates are submitted. It is difficult to get utilisation certificates collated from a large number of GPs on time.”
The problem is the same in Madhya Pradesh, which has the highest number of villages (7,307) covered under the scheme. The state has got VDPs approved for just 4,203 villages, according to the information tabled in the Parliament.
“Though we have informed the GPs about what all activities can be taken up, gram panchayats often propose projects which can’t be included in the scheme. Identifying projects at village level often takes a lot of time,” a senior official with Madhya Pradesh government’s tribal welfare department told ThePrint.
According to civil society groups working in tribal areas, one of the major reasons for poor implementation of the scheme is the lack of government set up at block and panchayat levels, and lack of awareness among residents.
“In most areas, the tribal area plans are implemented by Integrated Tribal Development Agency. The administrative structure at block level or gram panchayat level is often missing. For preparing an effective VDP, block and GP level involvement is a must. There is a need to strengthen institutions like gram panchayats for effective planning and execution of these schemes. In many tribal areas, people lack awareness of government schemes,” a civil society member working in Jharkhand and other states told ThePrint.
Assam (1,770 identified villages), Tripura (344), Telangana (533), and Mizoram (344) are among the few states that have prepared plans for more than 80 percent of the villages identified under the scheme, according to the tribal affairs ministry’s response to the question in the Rajya Sabha.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)