The Union Cabinet, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 18, approved Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan with a total outlay of Rs 79,156 crore (Central share: Rs.56,333 crore and state share: Rs. 22,823 crore) for improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities, by adopting saturation coverage for tribal families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts. This will cover around 63,000 villages benefitting more than 5 crore tribal people. It will cover 549 districts and 2,740 blocks spread across all tribal majority villages across 30 States / UTs.

The mission comprises 25 interventions/schemes which will be implemented by 17-line ministries. Each Ministry/Department would be responsible for implementation of schemes related to it in a time-bound manner through funds allocated to them under the Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST) in the next 5 years.

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“One of the schemes of the mission is Tribal Home Stays-Swadesh Darshan which will be implemented by the Ministry of Tourism. To tap the tourism potential of tribal areas and to provide an alternate livelihood to the tribal community, 1000 home stays will be promoted under Swadesh Darshan through the Ministry of Tourism,” the Ministry of Tourism said.

“In villages which have tourism potential, funding will be provided to the tribal Household and the village for construction of 5-10 Homestays in one village. Each household will be eligible for Rs 5.00 lakh for the construction of two new rooms and upto Rs 3.00 lakh for renovation of existing rooms and Rs 5 lakh for village community requirement,” the Ministry said.

India has a ST population of 10.45 crore as per 2011 census and there are more than 705 tribal communities, spread across the country, living in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

The Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan envisions saturation of critical gaps in social infrastructure, health, education, livelihood, through different schemes of government of India by convergence and outreach and ensure holistic and sustainable development of tribal areas and communities based on learnings and success of PMJANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan).

The tribal villages covered under the Abhiyan would be mapped on PM Gati Shakti Portal with the gaps identified by the concerned department for its scheme specific requirements. physical and financial progress will be monitored on PM Gati Shakti platform and the best performing districts will be awarded.