Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the PM-PVTG Development Mission — a scheme meant for the overall development of around 28 lakh people from Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups — in a special programme to mark the birth anniversary of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda on November 15, which has been celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas for three years now.
The launch of the scheme has been planned in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, after a visit to Ulihatu village, the birthplace of Bursa Munda. The government said this would make Mr. Modi the first Prime Minister to visit the village. At last year’s Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, President Droupadi Murmu also visited the village, marking the first such visit by any President.
In addition to the PM-PVTG mission for PVTG communities living in over 22,000 remote villages across 18 States and Union Territories, the Prime Minister is also expected to launch a “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra” from Khunti — in an attempt to achieve saturation of flagship government schemes across the country.
The Yatra will begin from tribals-dominated districts of the country with the aim of covering all districts by January 2024, a government statement said. It added that the PM will also be launching a host of other initiatives during his visit to Jharkhand on November 14 and 15. This includes releasing the 15th instalment of the PM-KISAN scheme, inaugurating and laying the foundation stone for projects worth ₹7,200 crore in sectors like rail, road, Education, Coal, Petroleum, and Natural Gas.
The PM-PVTG Mission has been designed to bring critical infrastructure like power, water, road connectivity, housing, education, and healthcare to the 75 PVTG communities living in remote villages, according to Ministry officials.
Government officials have said that under the scheme, about 11 interventions like the PM-Gram Sadak Yojana, PM-Gram Awaas Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, and others will be taken to these target villages through the coordinated work of nine Ministries.
Over the past six months, officials from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs have been visiting the PVTG villages across the country, in order to observe and report back on the immediate needs of these populations and thereby ensure the scheme’s implementation is prioritised accordingly.
In addition to this, government sources said that there will be concerted efforts in these PVTG villages to ensure saturation of schemes like PM-Jan Arogya Yojana, Sickle-Cell Elimination Campaign, TB elimination campaign, 100% immunisation, PM Surakshit Matritva Yojana, PM Matru Vandana Yojana, PM Poshan, PM Jan Dhan Yojana and others.
While announcing the PM-PVTG scheme earlier this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the government had planned a ₹15,000 crore expenditure over the course of three years. However, the statement released on Monday said that the government had now allocated ₹24,000 crore for the scheme.
Despite the government’s push for the PM-PVTG mission, a House Panel on the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes had shown concerns about the budgeting for it, noting that the government had planned it without any current data on the total population of PVTGs in the country.
Published - November 13, 2023 11:37 pm IST
