Lok Sabha Question No. 1811 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-01
Subject: Funds for ST Communities
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Adv. Chandra Shekhar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 1811

TO BE ANSWERED ON- 01/08/2024

## FUNDS FOR ST COMMUNITIES

## 1811 ADV. CHANDRA SHEKHAR:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the manner in which the Ministry ensured that the funds earmarked for ST communities are directed towards schemes like hostels and tribal welfare programmes; and

(b) the details of the measures implemented to monitor the utilisation of funds under the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) in various States and Union Territories?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGADAS UIKEY)

(a) to (b): To ensure that the funds earmarked for Scheduled Tribes (STs) communities are directed towards schemes for tribal welfare, the obligated Ministries/Departments are required to place the funds earmarked for Development Action Plan for STs (DAPST)/Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) under Minor Head '796' below the functional major Head/Sub-Major Heads. Ministry of Tribal Affairs has  developed  STC  MIS  Portal  with  web  address:  https://stcmis.gov.in  for  monitoring  of DAPST/TSP funds of the obligated Ministries/Departments. In order that concrete steps are taken for tribal welfare, the Ministry first calculates gaps in specific areas like schools, anganwadis etc. in  the  select  tribal  dominated  villages  and  blocks. After  gap  assessment, the Ministry has also conceptualized schemes like PM JANMAN and Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan where  specific  targeted  interventions  like  tribal  hostels  and  basic  infrastructure  like  Puccca Houses, internal roads are developed in a time bound manner to reach the last mile and the most disadvantaged communities.

Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS 3.0) has been visualized to overcome the land related issues and to provide a proper structure for managing the schools. Criteria for establishment of schools is being modified to cover left out states, establishment of 100 new EMRS districts with more than 1 lakh population without an EMRS, states that were not sanctioned EMRS under central sector scheme, border and hilly areas and at capitals and major cities of the States.

Funds under Grants of Article 275 (1) of Constitution of India are provided for several activities including activities  related to  education  sector like addition  to  existing  building  infrastructure, construction of co-ed residential school, construction of Girls and Boys Hostels, construction of Ashram Schools, Vocational Training Centres in residential schools; IT based education facilities/ equipment etc.

The Ministry also convene meetings periodically with the obligated Ministries/Departments to review allocation, utilization, and physical progress under DAPST/TSP. Scheme/programme-wise progress  and  utilization  of  funds  are  also  monitored  through  dedicated  online  portals  and performance dashboard by the obligated Ministries/Departments. Officers while visiting States / UTs  also  ascertain  the  progress  of  implementation  of  various  schemes/  programmes.  Also, Utilization Certificates are insisted upon as a pre-requisite for further release of funds as per the norms  of  General  Financial  Rules  (GFR).  Further,  State  Governments  are  also  required  to designate a Single Nodal Agency in terms of revised procedure by Ministry of Finance for release of funds and monitoring for each Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

To regularly monitor the intervention-wise or ministry-wise progress of the mission, ministry-wise interactive dashboards have been developed on PM Gati Shakti portal. In these dashboards, the dynamic data is directly fetched from the MIS portals of the respective line ministries through API sharing and useful fields are visualized on the dashboard. Under each Ministry intervention, real time monitoring of the  achievements of their respective scheme has been linked through API. There is a facility to know the progress of all 11 Interventions/scheme under PM JANMAN at a single platform. This robust database and gap analysis specific to PVTGs have provided critical insights into the existing gaps in villages/habitations. The PM Gati Shakti database, gap analysis, monitoring  dashboards,  reports  etc  have  enabled  Ministries/departments  to  identify  the  most pressing needs, plan targeted interventions and monitor the progress effectively.

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