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The Ministry of Tribal Affairs listed thirteen major schemes for Scheduled Tribes, with five years of State-wise funds and outcomes.
Against a target of 728 Eklavya Model Residential Schools, 479 are functional, with cumulative enrolment rising from 92,075 in 2020-21 to 1,38,336 in 2024-25.
Under Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission, 4,172 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras have been sanctioned benefiting 12,48,067 members; a further 540 VDVKs under PM-JANMAN benefit 46,042 persons.
PM-JANMAN, launched on 15 November 2023, targets saturation of basic facilities among the 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups through convergence of nine line ministries.
DAJGUA, launched in 2024, subsumes PMAAGY and covers over 63,000 tribal-majority villages through 25 interventions across 17 ministries.
Quality residential education up to Class XII for ST students, on par with Navodaya Vidyalayas.
Key: 479 functional against a target of 728; one school per block with over 50 per cent ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons.
Reduce drop-out in Classes IX and X, and enable completion of post-secondary education.
Key: The two principal scholarship streams, with State-wise beneficiary data reported over five years.
Saturation of basic facilities among Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
Key: Launched 15 November 2023; convergence of nine line ministries; includes Multi-Purpose Centres for livelihood and skill infrastructure. Outlay Rs 24,104 crore across 11 interventions.
Promote minor forest produce based livelihoods for tribal gatherers through value-addition and processing clusters.
Key: 4,172 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras sanctioned, benefiting 12,48,067 members.
Dedicated support for the 75 identified PVTGs covering habitat, health, education and livelihood.
Key: A standing scheme distinct from the PM-JANMAN campaign.
Constitutional grant-in-aid to States for ST welfare and for raising the administration of Scheduled Areas to the level of the rest of the State.
Key: A constitutional obligation rather than a discretionary scheme.
Apex financial institution providing concessional credit for livelihood and income-generating activities.
Key: Serves ST beneficiaries living below double the poverty line.
Research, documentation and capacity building on tribal issues to inform policy.
Key: TRI-ECE recognises universities and national institutions as Centres of Excellence, covering tribal livelihoods, health, traditional healing, customary laws and documentation of art, oral traditions and languages.
Saturation-mode development of tribal-majority villages nationwide.
Key: Launched 2024, subsuming the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAAGY); 25 interventions across 17 ministries covering over 63,000 villages.
Support NGOs undertaking educational, health and livelihood work for Scheduled Tribes.
Key: One of the oldest delivery channels in the Ministry's portfolio.
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups are a sub-category within Scheduled Tribes, identified on criteria including a pre-agricultural level of technology, a stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy and a subsistence economy. There are 75 such groups, and PM-JANMAN exists because ordinary ST schemes reach them last - their habitations are the smallest, remotest and least connected. That is also why the Ministry used the PM Gati Shakti mobile application for habitation-level data collection: before you can saturate a settlement with facilities, you have to know it exists and what it lacks, and PVTG hamlets are frequently absent from conventional records. The Van Dhan model addresses the other half of the problem, income. Minor forest produce - honey, tamarind, mahua, lac, bamboo, medicinal plants - is what forest-dwelling tribal households actually collect, but selling it raw to traders captures almost none of its value. A Van Dhan Vikas Kendra is a cluster where gatherers clean, grade, process and package produce collectively, so the margin stays with them. The scale difference between the two VDVK streams tells its own story: 4,172 Kendras under the general mission reaching 12.48 lakh members, against 540 under PM-JANMAN reaching 46,042 - because PVTG populations are, by definition, small and scattered.
Simple Analogy: Selling raw forest produce is selling wheat; a Van Dhan Kendra is the village mill that lets you sell flour instead.
Provides grants-in-aid from the Consolidated Fund of India to States for promoting the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and for raising the level of administration of Scheduled Areas to that of the rest of the State - a constitutional obligation, not a discretionary scheme.
Governs the administration of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in States other than those covered by the Sixth Schedule, and is the framework within which Article 275(1) grants operate.
Empowers the President, in consultation with the Governor, to specify the tribes deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to a State or Union Territory.
Recognises rights over minor forest produce, which is the legal foundation on which the Van Dhan value-addition model rests.
GS Paper 2 > Governance: Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections; Social Justice: Scheduled Tribes; Polity: Constitutional Provisions
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Polity
General Awareness > Government Schemes
General Awareness > Current Affairs
Tribal welfare schemes and the constitutional provisions for STs are asked almost every year in UPSC Prelims and GS-2 Mains.
Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan, launched 15 November 2023 for saturation of basic facilities among PVTGs; outlay Rs 24,104 crore across 11 interventions.
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group - 75 identified groups marked by pre-agricultural technology, stagnant or declining population, low literacy and a subsistence economy.
A cluster where tribal gatherers collectively clean, grade, process and package minor forest produce, capturing value that raw sale surrenders to traders.
Constitutional grants-in-aid to States for ST welfare and for raising Scheduled Area administration to the level of the rest of the State.
National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation - apex body giving concessional credit to ST beneficiaries below double the poverty line.
Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana, the tribal village development scheme subsumed into DAJGUA in 2024.