Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana

Q. Why is this in News?

A. Recently, Government has modified the earlier scheme of ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS)’ with nomenclature ‘Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAAGY)’ for implementation during 2021-22 to 2025-26.

Q. What is Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana?

A. 

• About:
  • It supplements the efforts of State Governments for development and welfare of tribal people by extending Special Central Assistance as an additive to the State Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP).
  • It aims at mitigating gaps and providing basic infrastructure in villages with significant tribal population in convergence with funds available under different schemes in Central Scheduled Tribe Component.
• Revision of Scheme Guidelines:
  • To ensure all round development of the selected villages, so that they can indeed become ‘Adarsh Grams’, the SCA to TSS Scheme was also revised to capture the Gaps in critical socio-economic ‘Monitorable Indicators’ as part of various sectors/domains.
    • These domains include water and sanitation, education, health and nutrition, agricultural best practices etc. amongst others.
• New Approach for Implementation:
  • The identification of needs or Gaps with regard to the ‘Monitorable Indicators’ are based on a Need Assessment exercise.
  • The ‘Village Development Plan’ (VDP) is based on the data collected as part of the Need Assessment exercise.
  • PMAGY provides the platform for convergent implementation of other Schemes with the aim to achieve saturation in the various domains.
• Objectives:
  • Preparing Village Development Plan based on the needs, potential, and aspirations.
  • Maximizing the coverage of individual/family benefit schemes of the Central / State Governments.
  • Improving the infrastructure in vital sectors like health, education, connectivity and livelihood.
  • The scheme envisions to mitigate gaps in prominent 8 sectors of development:
    • Road connectivity (Internal and Inter village /block)
    • Telecom connectivity (Mobile /internet)
    • School
    • Anganwadi Centres
    • Health Sub-Centre
    • Drinking water facility
    • Drainage
    • Solid waste management

Q. What are the Basic Safeguards Provided by Indian Constitution for Scheduled Tribes?

A. 

• The Constitution of India does not endeavor to define the term 'tribe', however, the term Scheduled Tribe' was inserted in the Constitution through Article 342 (i).
  • It lays down that 'the President may, by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within the tribes or tribal communities or parts which shall, for the purposes of this Constitution, be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes.
  • The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the setting up a Tribes’ Advisory Council in each of the States having Scheduled Areas.
• Educational & Cultural Safeguards:
  • Article 15(4): Special provisions for advancement of other backward classes (it includes STs).
  • Article 29: Protection of Interests of Minorities (it includes STs).
  • Article 46: The State shall promote, with special care, the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes, and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
  • Article 350: Right to conserve distinct Language, Script or Culture.
• Political Safeguards:
  • Article 330: Reservation of seats for STs in Lok Sabha.
  • Article 332: Reservation of seats for STs in State Legislatures.
  • Article 243: Reservation of seats in Panchayats.
• Administrative Safeguard:
  • Article 275: It provides for the grant of special funds by the Union Government to the State Government for promoting the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and providing them with a better administration.

Q. What are some other Initiatives for Tribal Population?

A. 

• TRIFED:
  • The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) came into existence in 1987. It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
    • The main aim of this drive is to activate the Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs) in the villages.
• Digital Transformation of Tribal Schools:
  • Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MTA) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to support the digital transformation of schools such as Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) and Ashram Schools.
• Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups:
  • Ministry of Tribal Affairs has implemented the scheme of “Development of PVTGs” which covers 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) for their comprehensive socio-economic development.
• Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana:
  • The ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’ initiative, also known as 'Mission Van Dhan', was introduced by the central government in 2021, in line with the Prime Minister's aim to establish a sustainable livelihood for India's tribal population.
• Eklavya Model Residential Schools:
  • EMRS is a scheme for making model residential schools for Indian tribals (ST- Scheduled Tribes) across India. It started in the year 1997-98.
  • The Eklavya Model Residential School in Shinde (Nashik) has been planned by the Ministry Tribal Affairs to give impetus to quality education in nearby tribal areas.