Lok Sabha Question No. 7 (STARRED), answered on 2021-11-29
Subject: Social Indices in Tribal Communities
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Satyadev Pachauri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No . † *7

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2021

## SOCIAL INDICES IN TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

## †*7.   SHRI SATYADEV PACHAURI:

## Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the tribal communities in the country are lagging behind the other communities in various social indices;
- (b) whether infant and maternal mortality rates and the cases of women affected by anemia are very high among tribal communities mainly due to high drop-out rate and lack of education among children and very poor health facilities in tribal areas;
- (c) the details of steps taken by the Government to improve the social indices of tribal communities including the amount spent in this regard;
- (d) whether the Government has not taken any steps for rehabilitation of the tribal people displaced by development schemes; and
- (e) if so, the main reasons therefor?

MINISTER FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI ARJUN MUNDA)

- (a) to (e):         A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## ANSWER

## Statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *7 for answer on 29.11.2021

(a) to (b): Data pertaining to decennial Census, management information system, sample surveys conducted by different Ministries / Departments of Government of India, reveal that over the years there have been considerable improvements in living conditions of the Scheduled Tribes (STs). However, there are still gaps in social indices between STs and all India population. A comparative statement of some social development indicators with reference to India and social group is Annexed.

Higher  Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), number of cases of women affected by anemia may not be exclusively due to high dropout rate, lack of education; there may be other reasons like lack of awareness,  not  attending  to  institutional  medical  facilities,  distinctive  culture,  geographical isolation, backwardness.

(c): Government is implementing Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP)/Schedule Tribe Component (STC)/Development Action Plan for Development of STs (DAPSTs) for overall development of tribal  people  across  the  country.  Besides,  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs,  40  Central  Ministries  / Departments have been obligated by NITI Aayog for earmarking certain percentage of their total Scheme  allocation  every  year  as  TSP  funds  for  tribal  development.  TSP  funds  are  spent  by obligated Central Ministries / Departments under their schemes for various development projects relating to education, health, agriculture, irrigation, roads, housing, drinking water, electrification, employment generation, skill development, etc. for accelerated socio-economic development of Scheduled Tribes in the country. State Governments are also supposed to earmark TSP funds in proportion to ST population (Census 2011) in the State with respect to total State Plan.

To  bridge  the  gap,  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  is  implementing  the  following  Schemes  and Programmes for Tribal population in addition to the initiatives of line Ministries and States under TSP.

-  Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS)
-  Grants-in-Aid under Article 275(1) of the Constitution of India
-  Post Matric Scholarship for ST students
-  Pre-Matric Scholarship for ST students
-  National Overseas Scholarship for ST students for studying abroad
-  National Fellowship & Scholarship for higher Education for ST students
-  Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
-  Grant-in-aid to voluntary organizations working for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes.
-  Support to Tribal Research Institutes
-  Tribal Festivals, Research Information and Mass Media
-  Institutional support for Development and Marketing of Tribal Products / Produce
-  Support to National/State Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation
-  Mechanism for marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum support Price (MSP) and development of Value Chain for MFP.
-  Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs)

Expenditure made/fund released by obligated Ministries /Departments under TSP during last three years and current financial year is as under

| Funds    | released/Expenditure made   | released/Expenditure made   | (Rs in Crore)              |
|----------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------|
| 2018-19  | 2019-20                     | 2020-21                     | 2021-22 (as on 18.11.2021) |
| 35352.77 | 45856.40                    | 42963.57                    | 53585.90                   |

(d) : To protect and safeguarding the land rights of STs and to address the issue of land acquisition and displacement of tribals, following Constitutional and legal provisions  inter-alia have been put in place: -

-  The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA in short), in section 4 (5) states that save as otherwise provided, no member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes or Other Traditional Forest Dweller shall be evicted or removed  from  the  Forest  Land  under  his  occupation  till  the  recognition  and  verification procedure is complete.

Under Section 5 of FRA, Gram Sabha is, inter-alia, empowered to ensure that the decisions taken in Gram Sabha to regulate access to community forest resources and stop any activity which adversely affects the wild animals, forest and the biodiversity are complied with.

-  The  purpose  of  the  'Right  to  Fair  Compensation  and  Transparency  in  Land  Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013' (RFCTLARR Act, 2013 in short) is to ensure, in consultation with institutions of local self-government and Gram Sabhas established under the Constitution, a humane, participative, informed and transparent process for land acquisition with the least disturbance to the owners of the land and the other affected families and provide just and fair compensation to the affected families whose land has been acquired or proposed to be acquired. There are specific provisions under Section 41, Section 42, Second Schedule and Third Schedule of RFCTLARR Act, 2013 to protect the interest of displaced families including Scheduled Tribes. Land being a State subject, various provisions of rehabilitation and resettlement as per the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 are implemented by the concerned State Governments.
-  The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, also provides that the Gram Sabha or the Panchayats at the appropriate level shall be consulted before making the acquisition of land in the Scheduled Areas or development projects and before resettling or rehabilitating persons affected by  such  projects in the  Scheduled  Areas;  the  actual  planning  and implementation of the projects in the Scheduled Areas shall be coordinated at theState Level.
-  Constitutional provisions under Schedule -V also provide safeguards against displacement of tribal  population  because  of  land  acquisitions  etc.The  Governor  of  the  State  which  has scheduled Areas is empowered to prohibit or restrict transfer of land from tribals and regulate the allotment of land to members of the Scheduled Tribes in such cases.

(e): Does not arise.

## Annexure

|   S. No. | Indicators                                                                                                                          | India     | ST        | SC        | OBC       |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|        1 | Literacy Rate (%) (Census 2011) (Census 2001)                                                                                       | 73.0 64.8 | 59.0 47.1 | 66.1 54.6 | - -       |
|        2 | Gross Enrolment Ratio for Secondary (IX-X) UDISE Plus, 2019-20 UDISE Plus, 2015-16                                                  | 77.9 77.2 | 76.7 70.7 | 83.0 83.7 | - -       |
|        3 | Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-3 (2005-06)                                                                       | 40.7 57.0 | 44.4 62.1 | 45.2 66.4 | 42.1 56.6 |
|        4 | Under -5 Mortality Rate NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-3 (2005-06)                                                                           | 49.7 74.3 | 57.2 95.7 | 55.9 88.1 | 50.8 72.8 |
|        5 | Percentage of children under age 5 who are Underweight (weight for age) NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-3 (2005-06)                           | 35.7 42.5 | 45.3 54.5 | 39.1 47.9 | 35.5 43.2 |
|        6 | Institutional Delivery (%) NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-3 (2005-06)                                                                        | 78.9 38.7 | 68.0 17.7 | 78.3 32.9 | 79.8 37.7 |
|        7 | Children aged 12-23 months who received Full Immunization NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-3 (2005-06)                                         | 62.0 43.5 | 55.8 31.3 | 63.2 39.7 | 61.9 40.7 |
|        8 | Prevalence of any Anaemia in Women of age 15-49 years (Hb <12.0 g/dl)(%) NFHS-4 (2015-16) NFHS-3 (2005-06)                          | 53.1 55.3 | 59.9 68.5 | 55.9 58.3 | 52.2 54.4 |
|        9 | Percentage of Households having Good Houses (Census 2011)                                                                           | 53.1      | 40.6      | 43.0      | -         |
|       10 | Percentage of households having marginal operational holdings (below 1.00 ha) Agriculture Census 2015-16 Agriculture Census 2010-11 | 68.4 67.1 | 56.3 53.9 | 36.7 35.5 | -         |

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