A long-term special project of about Rs 1,300 crore has been taken up by the World Bank for the overall development of the tribalareas and upliftment of the socio-economic conditions of the tribalin the state. The project will give special emphasis on education, communication and upliftment of livelihood of tribals in 23 tribal dominated blocks and 12 aspirational blocks of the state. The project will be implemented through the joint initiative of the Department of Tribal Welfare, Tripura Rural Livelihood Mission, Department of Agriculture and Horticulture, ARDD, Fisheries, PWD, Education, Transport, Rural Development etc. Minister of Tribal Welfare Department Rampada Jamatia informed this while highlighting the progress and success of the development work carried out by the Tribal Welfare Department in a press conference at the Secretariat yesterday. He said that special emphasis will be given in this project on the development of the communication system of the block areas inhabited by the tribal community and to improve the socio-economic of the tribal people. Minister of Tribal Welfare Department said that a new scheme called Supplementary Education for Elementary Classes (SEEC) 2022 has been launched with the aim of improving the quality of education of the students in the tribal areas as well as enriching them through modern education system. In this scheme, 290 coaching centres have been started in the current financial year. He also said that in the financial year 2022-23, a total of 27,361 tribal students were given scholarships for hostel and the total expenditure was 3483.89 lakh rupees. In the financial year 2022-23, a total of 27,809 tribal students were given a financial grant of 94.88 lakh rupees for the purchase of textbooks. 685 students have applied through the National Scholarship Portal to get one-time financial assistance. In the financial year 2022-23, a total of 73.29 lakh rupees was spent for 9,564 tribal students to provide special coaching on basic subjects, saidTribal Welfare Minister. He said that efforts have been made to set up 17 more Eklavya Model Residential Schools (including 1 Eklavya Model Day Boarding School) in Tribal dominated blocks for the development of educational infrastructure. Out of the 16 Eklavya Model Residential Schools, 1 Eklavya Model Residential School has been opened at Ambassa Nalicherra and 13 more are under construction. In October 2022, the Tribal Welfare Department of the Government of India approved the conversion of the Killa Eklavya Model Day Boarding School into Eklavya Model Residential School, infromed Shri Jamatia. He informed that the construction of 3 degree college hostels namely Agartala Women’s College, Ambedkar College at Fatikroy and Government Degree College at Gandacherrra hostels are almost at the final stage.
New Tribal rest houses namely Kumari Madhuti Rupashri have been opened at Kalachara in Sabroom sub-division and at Melarmath in Agartala. He said that currently 32 Bandhan Development Centres have been set up in different districts in the state. Approval has been sought from the Ministry of Tribal Welfare of the Union Government and TRIFED for setting up 25 more Bandhan Development Centres. He said that the finance department of the state government has sanctioned 1 crore rupees in the financial year 2022-23 for the implementation of the Jhoom cultivation project. In this project 8,368 hardcore Jhoom cultivator families will be given a financial grant of Rs.212 for 6 days wages. Under the Chief Minister’s Rubber Mission scheme, rubber will be cultivated on 30,000 hectares of land in the next 5 years. In the current financial year, the state government’s finance department has paid 10 crore rupees. According to thecensus of 2011, the Union Ministry of Tribal Welfare has identified 375 villages in Tripura under Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana.
In the press conference, Minister of TribalWelfare said that under the Forest Right Act, a total of 1,31,564 families have been given land leases of a total of 1,88,250.17 hectares. 32,722 families with land rights have been given houses under IAY / PMAY. Loans have been provided to 52 tribal students for employment and 7 tribal students for higher education in order to make the tribal youth financially self-reliant. 18.24 lakh rupees have been disbursed from the TribalWelfare Department for the treatment of 212 poor tribal patients so far in the financial year 2022-23. Moreover, Tribal Welfare Department has taken up a new scheme for rearing pig and goat on credit link model, said Tribal Welfare Minister. He also said that smart TV and Tata Sky have been provided in 161 hostels run by the state government. Computer sets have been provided in 22 government run hostels. Biometric attendance system has been introduced in all the government hostels.
In the press conference, the Director of the Tribal Research and Cultural Institute under the Department of Tribal Welfare of the State Government, Ananda Hari Jamatia, gave detailed information about the different projects being implemented for the welfare of the tribalpeople through the Tribal Research and Cultural Institute He said that various projects are implemented through the Tribal Research and Cultural Institute for the development, preservation and revival of the life style, culture and socio-economic development of the tribals of Tripura. There is a library under this department. This library has 15,394 books on the peoples of Tripura and North Eastern region. This institute publishes a research journal ‘Twi’ and a literary journal ‘Saima’. Under this institution there is a folk music educational institute called Tripura State Academy of Tribal Culture which is affiliated to Tripura University. Traditional clothing, ornaments, musical instruments and accessories have recently been distributed among 14 ethnic cultural groups through this institution. Joint Director of Tribal Welfare Department Rinku Reang was also present at the press conference.
