Lok Sabha Question No. 2247 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-01-01
Subject: Problems faced by Tribals
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: JITENDRA CHAUDHURY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2247

TO BE ANSWERED ON 1.1.2018

## PROBLEMS FACED BY TRIBALS

## 2247. SHRI JITENDRA CHAUDHURY:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether most of the tribals in the country live in sparsely populated hills and communications in the tribal areas remain tough and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the tribals need to be protected against leading isolated life, away from towns and cities, through a network of new roads and if so, the details thereof;

(c)  whether  the  main  problems  of  the  tribals  identified  by  the  Government  are  poverty, indebtedness,  literacy,  bondage  exploitation,  disease  and  unemployment  and  if  so,  the  details thereof; and

(d) the action taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI JASWANTSINH BHABHOR)

(a)  &  (b):    As  per  Census  2011,  the  States  in  the  North  East  have  a  very  large  population  of Scheduled Tribes as compared to total population. More than half of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population is concentrated in the States of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.  However, data relating to Scheduled Tribe habitations in sparsely populated hills is not centrally maintained in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The overall  socio-economic  development  of  the  tribal  population  along  with preservation and promotion of traditional tribal cultural heritage is being done through different schematic interventions of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and other Ministries / Departments of Government of India.  Also, various schemes / programmes of concerned Central Ministries and the  State  Governments like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), etc., support development initiatives including connectivity of tribal areas / forest areas from their respective Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) components.  Ministry of Tribal Affairs provides additives to these initiatives by way of plugging critical gaps.

(c) & (d):     Over the years, the Central and State Governments have been taking various initiatives for socio-economic upliftment of tribal population of the country.  This includes the Tribal SubPlan (TSP) strategy.  This is a multi-pronged strategy which includes support for education, health, sanitation, water supply, livelihood, etc.

Data pertaining to decennial census, large scale sample surveys conducted by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) and various other surveys conducted by different Ministries/ Departments of  Government  of  India,  reveal  that  there  have  been  vast  improvements  in  socio-economic conditions of the Scheduled Tribes, for example, the percentage of STs below poverty line in rural areas has improved from 47.4 % in 2009-10 to 45.3 % in 2011-12, literacy rate for STs has improved from 47.1% in 2001 to 59% in 2011 and, Infant Mortality Rate has declined from 57.0 (2005-06) to 44.4 (2015-16). However, there are still gaps as compared to figures of total population, as shown in the Table given below:

| Indicators                                                                                            | Total population   | Scheduled Tribes   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Rural BPL(2011-12) (Tendulkar Method)                                                                 | 25.7%              | 45.3%              |
| Literacy Rate: Census 2011                                                                            | 73.0%              | 59.0%              |
| Infant Mortality Rate (number of infant deaths per 1000 live births during the year): National Family | 40.7               | 44.4               |

As regards unemployment, Employment - Unemployment Survey, 2015-16 conducted by Labour Bureau, has revealed that the Unemployment Rate (per 1000) in respect of STs (44) is less than the Unemployment Rate of overall population (50). Further, as regards indebtedness, as per All India Debt Investment Survey, 2013 of National Sample Survey Office, in rural India, among all social groups, 'Incidence of Indebtedness (IOI)' was lowest for ST households (16.9%) and also, 'Average Amount of Debt (AOD)' per household was lowest for ST households.

The list of the schemes / programmes being implemented by Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes (STs) is given at Annexure.

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## Schemes being implemented by Ministry of Tribal Affairs for STs

|   S. No. | Name of the Scheme / Programme                                                                                                    |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Special Central Assistance (SCA) to Tribal Sub Scheme (TSS) (hitherto known as SCA to Tribal Sub Plan (TSP)).                     |
|        2 | Grants under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution of India.                                                                        |
|        3 | Pre-Matric Scholarship for ST students.                                                                                           |
|        4 | Post Matric Scholarship for ST students.                                                                                          |
|        5 | Girls &Boys Hostels for STs.                                                                                                      |
|        6 | Ashram Schools in Tribal Sub-Plan Area.                                                                                           |
|        7 | Vocational Training in Tribal Areas.                                                                                              |
|        8 | National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education for ST students.                                                         |
|        9 | National Overseas Scholarship for ST Students.                                                                                    |
|       10 | Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Development of Value Chain for MFP. |
|       11 | Grants-in-Aid to State Tribal Development Corporative Corporations (STDCCs), etc. for Minor Forest Produce (MFP) Operations.      |
|       12 | Grants-in-Aid to Voluntary Organisations working for the welfare of STs.                                                          |
|       13 | Strengthening Education among Scheduled Tribe Girls in Low Literacy Districts.                                                    |
|       14 | Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).                                                                     |
|       15 | Institutional support for Development and Marketing of Tribal Products / Produce.                                                 |
|       16 | Equity Support to National /State Scheduled Tribe Finance and Development Corporations.                                           |
|       17 | Research Information &Mass Education, Tribal Festival and Others.                                                                 |
|       18 | Grant-in-Aid to Tribal Research Institutes.                                                                                       |