Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED)

In news– The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has launched the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED) recently.

Background-

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment took a decision in February, 2014 to constitute a National Commission for De-Notified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes for a period of three years.
This National Commission was constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri Bhiku Ramji Idate.
This commission gave its report in December, 2017.
In its report, the commission prepared draft lists of DNT/NT/SNT Communities and the details of the number of DNT/NT/SNT communities.
Based on the National Commission’s recommendations, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has constituted the Development and Welfare Board for De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNCs) in 2019.
The Board has formulated a SEED Scheme for empowerment of DNT communities for families having income from all sources of Rs.2.50 lakh or less per annum and not availing any such benefits from similar Scheme of Central Government or the State Government.

About the Scheme-

The Scheme will have the following four components with an approximate cost of Rs 200 crore to be spent over a period of 5 years starting Financial Year 2021-22 to 2025-26.

To provide coaching of good quality for DNT/NT/SNT candidates to enable them to appear in competitive examinations.

A component of free Coaching for DNT Students has been envisioned for the educational empowerment of these communities.
The selection of the candidates for each course will be based on a system generated merit list through the portal.
Approximately, 6250 students will be provided free coaching under this component in five years.

To provide health insurance to DNT/NT/SNT Communities-

The primary objective is to provide financial assistance to National Health Authority (NHA) in association with State Health Agencies (SHAs) for undertaking providing a health insurance cover of Rs.5 lakhs per family per year to DNT, NT and SNT families as per norms of “Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
Approximately, 4,44,500 families will be covered under health insurance in five years.

To facilitate livelihoods initiative at community level to build and strengthen small clusters of DNT/NT/SNT Communities institutions-

Its primary objective is to provide financial assistance to National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) for undertaking institution building in association with State Rural Livelihoods Mission (SRLM) of state Governments/UTs at community level.
Approximately 2,000 clusters will benefit under this component in five years.

To provide financial assistance for construction of houses to members of the DNT/NT/SNT Communities-

Considering the shortage of houses for DNTs, it has been proposed to earmark a separate outlay for PMAY to support specific importance in providing houses only for DNTs living in rural areas who have not taken benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as SC, ST, OBC and are living below poverty line.
The admissible support is Rs 1.20 lakhs in plains and 1.30 lakhs in hilly areas (per unit assistance).
Approximately, 4,200 houses will be constructed under this component in five years.

The Scheme will be implemented through a portal, developed by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment. The portal consists of two modules. One module for registration of the applicant with details of his family, income, occupation, aadhar and bank details, caste certificate, etc… Upon completing the registration, the applicant will be assigned a unique ID (UID) number, which will be his permanent registration number. With this UID, the applicant can apply for one or other components of the scheme, subject to his eligibility.

The second part consists of the scheme component for which the applicant wants to seek benefit with his UID as Login id and his mobile as his password. The portal will create a permanent database and can be retrieved whenever the applicant desires to enroll for a new component. The funds will be transferred directly to the beneficiaries in their account.

The other implementing agencies are the Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Health Authority (NHA).

The De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes(DNTs)-

DNTs are the most neglected, marginalized and economically and socially deprived communities.
The term ‘De-notified Tribes’ stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between l87l and I947.
These Acts were repealed by the Independent lndian Government in l952, and these communities were “De-Notified”.
A few of these communities which were listed as de-notified were also nomadic.
DNTs have diverse ideological patterns, culture, political and social lifestyle, customs and traditions.
In India, roughly 10 percent of the population is Denotified and Nomadic.
While the number of Denotified Tribes is about 150, the population of Nomadic Tribes consists of about 500 different communities.
Most DNTs are spread across the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories, but some DNTs are not covered in any of the SC. ST or OBC categories.

Further reading: https://journalsofindia.com/denotified-nomadic-and-semi-nomadic-tribesdnts/

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Source: PIB