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The Tribal Affairs Ministry intends to approach the Planning Commission soon to seek clear demarcation of backward regions consisting of large concentration of tribal population as it feels that there is a lot of overlap between backward regions and Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts.
“There is a lot of overlapping among 250 backward districts in the country with heavy tribal population and 60 LWE-affected districts and, therefore, we want to clearly demarcate backward districts block-wise and mandal-wise, so that funds meant for the development of tribals in these (backward) districts are not diverted somewhere else,” Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo told The Pioneer.
The Ministry feels that since backwardness of the region leads to increase in Naxal-related activities, it has led to overlapping between backward regions and LWE-affected districts.
According to sources in the Ministry, Deo would be taking up the matter formally with the Planning Commission “very soon”, so that programmes related to uplift of tribals in backward regions can be expedited, once the funding is clearly streamlined.
Apart from this, the Minister would be undertaking a tour of all the States with high density of tribal population in October, starting from Odisha. This would be followed by other States like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and the North-eastern States.
“I would be touring these States from mid-October onwards and would wrap up the tour before the Winter Session of Parliament commences. The main priority would be - apart from getting first hand feels of these areas - to ensure proper implementation of the Panchayats’ Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act there,” Deo said.
The PESA Act makes it mandatory for States having scheduled areas (with high tribal population) to make specific provisions for giving wide-ranging powers to the tribals on matters related to decision making and development of their communities.
Deo, who is also the Panchayati Raj Minister, said he would also ensure proper implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA) in tribal dominated States, “as there are a lot of anomalies in its implementation”. He said that in order to improve FRA’s implementation, it has to be ensured that tribals get “pattas” for their lands, to show that they exist, otherwise none of their rights can be secured without proof of their being citizens and owners of their lands.
Though Deo aims to resolve the various problems being faced by tribals in the country, his steps also seem to be in line with the UPA Government’s mandate to consolidate the tribal population as an important political support base, keeping in mind the long-term prospects of the General Elections scheduled for 2014.
“There is a lot of overlapping among 250 backward districts in the country with heavy tribal population and 60 LWE-affected districts and, therefore, we want to clearly demarcate backward districts block-wise and mandal-wise, so that funds meant for the development of tribals in these (backward) districts are not diverted somewhere else,” Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo told The Pioneer.
The Ministry feels that since backwardness of the region leads to increase in Naxal-related activities, it has led to overlapping between backward regions and LWE-affected districts.
According to sources in the Ministry, Deo would be taking up the matter formally with the Planning Commission “very soon”, so that programmes related to uplift of tribals in backward regions can be expedited, once the funding is clearly streamlined.
Apart from this, the Minister would be undertaking a tour of all the States with high density of tribal population in October, starting from Odisha. This would be followed by other States like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and the North-eastern States.
“I would be touring these States from mid-October onwards and would wrap up the tour before the Winter Session of Parliament commences. The main priority would be - apart from getting first hand feels of these areas - to ensure proper implementation of the Panchayats’ Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act there,” Deo said.
The PESA Act makes it mandatory for States having scheduled areas (with high tribal population) to make specific provisions for giving wide-ranging powers to the tribals on matters related to decision making and development of their communities.
Deo, who is also the Panchayati Raj Minister, said he would also ensure proper implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA) in tribal dominated States, “as there are a lot of anomalies in its implementation”. He said that in order to improve FRA’s implementation, it has to be ensured that tribals get “pattas” for their lands, to show that they exist, otherwise none of their rights can be secured without proof of their being citizens and owners of their lands.
Though Deo aims to resolve the various problems being faced by tribals in the country, his steps also seem to be in line with the UPA Government’s mandate to consolidate the tribal population as an important political support base, keeping in mind the long-term prospects of the General Elections scheduled for 2014.
