Replying today an un-starred question of Shri Kesineni Sivanath and Shri G Lakshminarayana the Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Durgadas Uikey informed Lok Sabha today that the “DhartiAabaJanjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan” aims for the holistic development of tribal communities and villages, focusing on those in Aspirational blocks with ST populations of 50 or more, and villages with at least 500 people and 50% ST population—covering around 63,643 villages. Over five years (2024-25 to 2028-29), the program will reach 549 districts and 2,911 blocks across tribal-dominated areas in 26 States and 4 UTs. Presently, Government has no plan to increase the number of villages under DAJGUA.

The State Government of Andhra Pradesh has reported that as per the study done by TCR&TI in 2017 (Dr. PD Satya Pal Kumar, 2017), the Valmiki Boya associations gave an estimated figure of 25,80,000. The State of Andhra Pradesh has submitted proposals to Government of India to recognize the Valmiki Boya community as Scheduled Tribes. The Office of Registrar General of India (ORGI) didn't support the proposal submitted by the State. Ministry is conducting coordination meetings with line departments and state/UT governmnets under “DhartiAabaJanjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan” (DAJGUA) for gap filling and to monitor the progress sanctioned under DAJGUA.

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(Release ID: 2159043)