According to sources, the Union Budget will lay emphasis on employment generation, addressing malnutrition, provision of health facilities and basic infrastructure like roads and housing in remote areas while preserving the original culture and lifestyle of the vulnerable sections including particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs). The biggest intervention is likely to be setting up of tribal health observatories in eight states including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Assam. The district-level observatories will have systematic screening of children and reproductive age adults for malaria, tuberculosis and leprosy, apart from Sickle Cell anaemia. The main aim will be to first track the data related to these diseases through extensive screening, monitor live cases and then completely eradicate the diseases from targeted tribal clusters.
The government is likely to propose an Integrated Cluster Action Plan for 63,000 tribal villages. According to sources, the villages will be organised into clusters, mapped and then analysed for gaps including roads, water, electricity, employment generation and main economic activity. A source, who did not wish to be identified, told ET, “The current approach of buying agricultural implements or seeds and distributing them will be given up. A new cluster-based approach will be introduced with synchronised planning across ministries like agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries to develop these clusters as tribal growth hubs.”
The Budget is likely to include a proposal to develop sports hubs in 20 tribal schools annually including upgraded playgrounds, indoor facilities, trained coaches, scholarships, nutrition and physiotherapy support and an annual identification of 200-300 tribal athletes for advanced training.
The Budget is likely to address the housing needs of tribal households. The Centre has found there is a major gap in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) coverage for tribals living in decades old dilapidated houses. Since there is a uniform design, there is also a low acceptance of the scheme in some tribal groups. According to sources, the Budget is likely to propose development of culturally appropriate and climate resilient dwelling units in about 3500 gram panchayats. These would be light projects which could then be integrated into other schemes.