HIGHLIGHTS:
- Dr. Virendra Kumar, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, launched the “Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED)”
- The scheme was launched on February 16, 2022
- The schemes aim for the welfare of De-notified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Communities (DNCs)
The Centre announced an umbrella programme on February 16, 2022 to ensure the benefits of its educational, healthcare, and housing schemes reach denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic tribes across the country.
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar launched a specialized portal to ensure smooth registration for the scheme’s benefits and to serve as a data repository for these groups.
Aim of the scheme
Under this scheme the government wants to provide free coaching for civil service exams, competitive exams for admission to professional courses, health insurance, livelihood support, and housing under the SEED scheme for economic empowerment of Denotified Tribes (DNTs), Semi-nomadic Tribes (SNTs), and Nomadic Tribes (NTs).
“This initiative is the first tiny step toward progress and development, but it will not be the last for these communities, which have been exposed to neglect and apathy for many years,” Singh said at the scheme’s opening.
Who are Denotified , Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes?
Denotified tribes, nomadic tribes, and semi-nomadic tribes are among the most neglected, marginalized, and economically disadvantaged communities, with the majority of them living in poverty.
The free coaching programme is designed to prepare them for competitive exams and open doors in fields such as medicine, engineering, and business administration.
“In five years, this component will provide free coaching to about 6,250 pupils.” A total of Rs 50 crore would be spent over the next five years, according to an official release.
The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana would cover 4,44,500 families for five years at a cost of Rs 49 crore under the health insurance plan.
Allocation of special budget to meet housing needs
Because of the scarcity of housing for denotified tribes, the government has recommended allocating a special budget for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to meet the community’s housing needs.
The Scheme comprises of four components:
- To provide high-quality coaching for applicants from these communities so that they can compete in competitive exams.
- For the educational empowerment of these areas, free coaching for DNT students has been envisioned. This component was included with the goal of offering high-quality coaching to DNT applicants in order for them to be able to compete in competitive tests or gain admission to professional programmes such as medical, engineering, and MBA.
- To give these communities health insurance.
- In order to create and strengthen local clusters of DNT/NT/SNT Communities institutions, it is necessary to assist livelihoods initiatives at the community level.
Portal to implement the scheme
The scheme will be conducted via a portal created by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
There are two modules in the portal:
- One is for the applicant’s registration, which includes information about his family, income, Aadhar and bank data, occupation, caste certificate, and so forth.
- The second section consists of the plan component for which the applicant wishes to receive benefits using his UID.0
