Cabinet nod for councils that would speed up economic development of the tribal population and ensure quality education without hurting their culture and traditions
Bhubaneswar: The state cabinet Wednesday gave its nod to set up Special Development Councils for tribals in nine districts where the ST population is sizeable. The council is expected to help in the economic uplift of tribals and make quality education accessible to them without tampering with their unique identity.
The councils would be set up in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the decision after the cabinet meet at the Secretariat. “The councils will have powers to take decisions and financial resources would be at their disposal to preserve, promote and develop the unique socio-cultural identities and economic capacities of tribals in the state,” the CM said.
The government plans to spend `175.5crore annually “over and above the already existing schemes” through these councils. Each of the112 blocks covered by the councils will receive about `1.5crore per year to undertake development activities. The councils will have members from 62 tribal communities, of which 13 are particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs).
Chief secretary Adiya Prasad Padhi, however, said the government is yet to chalk out the functional guidelines for these councils and that it is yet to be decided who will head these councils.
Tribals, who constitute 22 per cent of the state’s population and are distributed over 44 per cent of its territory, are a decisive factor in elections. As the ruling party’s performance in these nine districts remained tepid at panchayat elections this year, there is speculation that the government move is aimed at improving its image through development schemes. SC-ST development minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi, however, denied such a hidden agenda and stated that the government was only focusing on development of tribals.
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