Parliament Question: Tribal population and Central grants to Odisha

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO *56 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04/02/2026 TRIBAL POPULATION AND CENTRAL GRANTS TO ODISHA *56. Shri Manas Ranjan Mangaraj: Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) the total number of Scheduled Tribe (ST) population residing in the State of Odisha as per the latest available data; (b) whether the Ministry provides any Central grants to Odisha for the welfare and development of tribal communities; (c) if so, the details of the major grants released to the State under schemes such as Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme, Article 275(1) grants and others during the last three financial years; and (d) the steps taken by the Central Government to improve education, health, livelihood and socio- economic conditions of tribal communities in Odisha? ANSWER MINISTER OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI JUAL ORAM) (a) to (d): A statement is laid on the table of the House.Statement referred to in reply to part (a) to (d) of the Rajya Sabha Starred Question No. 56 for 04.02.2026 by SHRI MANAS RANJAN MANGARAJ regarding “TRIBAL POPULATION AND CENTRAL GRANTS TO ODISHA” (a):The total number of Scheduled Tribe (ST) population residing in the State of Odisha as per the latest available data is 95,90,756 as per Census 2011. (b) & (c) & (d): Central grants to Odisha is provided by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the welfare and development of tribal communities in the following schemes: (i) Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan: Hon'ble PM launched Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan on 2nd October, 2024. The Abhiyan comprises of 25 interventions implemented by 17-line Ministries and aims to saturate infrastructural gaps in 63,843 villages, improve access to health, education, Anganwadi facilities and providing livelihood opportunities benefiting more than 5 crore tribals in 549 districts and 2,911 blocks in 30 States/UTs in 5 years. The Abhiyan has total budgetary outlay of Rs.79,156 Cr (Central share: ₹56,333 Cr and State share: ₹22,823 Cr). (ii) Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN): Government has launched Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) on 15th November 2023, which is celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas. The mission with financial outlay of around Rs.24,000 Crore aims to saturate PVTG households and habitations with basic facilities such as safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, electrification of un-electrified households and sustainable livelihood opportunities in time bound manner in 3 years. (iii) Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission (PMJVM): The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission (PMJVM), which has been designed through the merger of two existing schemes for the promotion of tribal livelihood, i.e., “Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Development of Value Chain for MFP” and “Institutional Support for Development and Marketing of Tribal Products/Produce”. The Ministry is implementing the scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission (PMJVM)’ through Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) which envisions to strengthen tribal entrepreneurship initiatives and to facilitate livelihood opportunities by promoting more efficient, equitable, self-managed, optimum use of natural resources, agri / minor Forest Produce (MFPs) / non-farm produce. Under the scheme, financial support is provided to the State Governments for setting up of Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs) which are the centres of value addition activities of MFPs/Non-MFPs. (iv) Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS): Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) was started in the year 2018-19 to provide quality education at par with Navodaya Vidyalaya to thetribal children in their own environment. Under the new scheme, Government decided to establish 440 EMRSs, one EMRS in every block having more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons (as per census 2011). 288 EMRS schools were initially funded under Grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution, which are being upgraded as per the new model. Accordingly, Ministry has set the target to set up total of 728 EMRSs benefiting around 3.5 lakh ST students across the country. (v) Grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution: Under the Proviso to Article 275(1) of Constitution, Grants are released to States, having ST population for raising the level of administration in Scheduled Areas and for the welfare of tribal people. This is a Special Area Programme and 100% grants are provided to States. Funds are released to the State Governments depending on the felt needs of ST population to bridge the gap in infrastructure activities in the fields of education, health, skill development, livelihood, drinking water, sanitation, etc. vi) Scheme of Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS): Earlier, Ministry of Tribal Affairs was implementing the scheme of ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS)’. Historically, the scheme was initiated since 1977-78 with nomenclature ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Plan (SCA to TSP)’. Consequent upon the amalgamation of Plan and Non-Plan expenditure, the nomenclature of the Scheme was changed to ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS)’ during 2017. Under the scheme, funds were released to the state Governments having notified ST population. Including North Eastern States (NE States) for development and welfare of tribal people to bridge the gaps in sectors like education, health, agriculture, skill development, employment-cum-income generation, etc. The scheme has played a catalytic role in the overall development and welfare of tribal people and tribal dominated areas as an additive and supplement to the schemes of Central Line Ministries and State Governments. With the active and responsive support of the State Governments, Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been able to utilize the allocated budget of the Scheme to the fullest possible since 2014- 15. (vii) Aid to Voluntary Organizations working for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes: Under the scheme of Aid to Voluntary Organizations working for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes, the Ministry funds projects in the fields of education and health, covering residential schools, non-residential schools, hostels, mobile dispensaries, ten or more bedded hospitals, livelihood, etc. (viii) Pre-Matric Scholarships to ST students: The scheme is applicable to students who are studying in Classes IX –X. Parental income from all sources should not be more than Rs.2.50 lakhs per annum. Scholarship of Rs.225/-per month for day scholars and Rs.525/-per month for hostellers is given for a period of 10 months in a year. Scholarship is disbursed through the State Government/UT Administration. Funding ratio is 75:25 between Centre and States for all States except North East and Hills States/UT like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir where it is 90:10. For UTs without legislature sharing pattern is 100% Central share.(ix) Post Matric Scholarship to ST students: The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to the Scheduled Tribe students studying at post-matriculation or post-secondary levels to enable them to complete their education. Parental income from all sources should not be more than Rs.2.50 lakhs per annum. Compulsory fees charged by educational institutions are reimbursed subject to the limit fixed by the concerned State Fee fixation committee and scholarship amount of Rs.230 to Rs.1200 per month, depending upon the course of study is paid. The Scheme is implemented by the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. Funding ratio is 75:25 between Centre and States for all States except NE and Hilly States/UT of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir where it is 90:10. For UTs without legislature sharing pattern is 100% Central share. x) Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes: Government is implementing Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST) as a strategy for the development of Scheduled Tribes and areas having tribal concentration in the country. Besides Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 41 Ministries/Departments are allocating certain percentage of their total scheme budget every year for tribal development under DAPST to bridge the developmental gap between Scheduled Tribes (STs) and non-ST populations and for various tribal development projects relating to education, health, agriculture, irrigation, roads, housing, electrification, employment generation, skill development, etc. Schemes along-with funds allocated by the obligated Ministries/Departments for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes are given at Statement 10B of Expenditure Profile of Union Budget document in the following links: Statement 10B for 2022-23: https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/budget2022-23/doc/eb/stat10b.pdf Statement 10B for 2023-24: https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/budget2023-24/doc/eb/stat10b.pdf Statement 10B for 2024-25: https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/budget2024-25/doc/eb/stat10b.pdf xi) National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development (NSTFDC) is an apex organisation set up on 10.04.2001, exclusively for economic development of Scheduled Tribes. This Corporation was incorporated as a Govt. company under Ministry of Tribal Affairs and granted license under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (now Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013). Loans are provided to Scheduled Tribes entrepreneurs. xii) Support to TRIs - The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, under the scheme “Support to TRIs” provides financial support to strengthen these Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) in their infrastructural needs, research & documentation activities and training & capacity building programmes etc.Scheme-wise Fund release for the state of Odisha Fund release (in Rs crores) Pending UC Amount (in Rs crores) S. No Schemes 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 (P) 2025-26 (P) 12.54 8.54 NA 174.23 1 DAJGUA NA (21.01.26) PM 1.45 22.92 12.68 23.92 2 JANMAN(MPC) NA (31.12.2025) PMJVM (PM- 0 .42 32.96 00.89 NA 3 JANMAN VDVK) NA 4 EMRS 281.64 489.34 649.65 519.16 (22.01.26) * Ar(cid:415)cle 275(1) of 109.76 (21.01.26) 68.7 68.71 101.08 5 Cons(cid:415)tu(cid:415)on 101.50 SCA to TSS NA NA 30.44 NA 6 (PMAAGY) 10.01 Aid to voluntary 25.86 0 organiza(cid:415)ons 40.95 28.85 (31.12.25) 7 (NGO) 20.49 Pre Matric 43.55 43.55$ NA 29.50 8 Scholarship 93.97 (31.12.25) Post Matric 407.39 407.39$ 135.64 294.00 9 scholarship 171.33 (31.12.25) .07 0 03.62 08.83 10 NSTFDC 00.63 (31.01.26) 9.22 0 06.00 06.00 11 Support to TRIs 03.13 (31.01.26) P: Provisional *:- MoTA releases funds to NESTS and NESTS further releases funds to States/ UTs/ PSUs/ Construction Agencies/ State Societies as per their requirements for construction of EMRSs and recurring cost for running of the schools. The state-wise UC status is not maintained at Ministry Level. $:- Pendency pertains to FY 2025-26