Replying to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today the Union Minister of State Shri. Durgadas Uikey said that 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 including the state of Himachal Pradesh. Apart from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, other 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 link:

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/stat10b.pdf.

State Governments are also supposed to earmark TSP funds with respect to the total Scheme allocation, in proportion to ST population (Census 2011) in the State. The details of allocation and expenditure for TSP by States/UTs out of their own funds are available at https://statetsp.tribal.gov.in.

Ministry of Tribal Affairsis implementing the following schemes for scholarship in professional courses for tribal students:

National Overseas Scholarships for ST Candidates: The Scheme provides for financial assistance to selected students to pursue Post Graduation, PhD & Post-Doctoral study abroad. A total of 20 awards are given every year. Of these, 17 awards are for STs and 3 awards for students belonging to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Parental/family income from all sources should not exceed Rs.6.00 lakhs per annum. The scheme is 100% funded by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.Grants are given to the selected candidates by the Ministry through the Indian Missions/Embassies abroad.

National Scholarship - (Top Class) Scheme [Graduate and Post-Graduate Level]: The objective of the scheme is to encourage meritorious ST students for pursuing studies in prescribed courses in any of the 265 institutions of excellence across the country like IITs, AIIMS, IIMs, NIITs, etc. identified by the Ministry. Family income from all sources should not exceed Rs.6.00 lakhs per annum. Scholarship amount includes tuition fees, living expenses and allowances for books and computer. The scheme is 100% funded by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

National Fellowship for ST students: 750 fellowships are provided to ST students each year for pursing higher studies in India for MPhil and PhD. Fellowship is granted as per UGC norms. This is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by GOI and administered by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.              

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