Shillong, June 11: The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs in the last one year ending March 31 has disbursed Rs 11.14 crores of the sanctioned Rs 18.59 crores through various centrally-sponsored schemes to the state governments in the North East including Sikkim for the development of the tribals there. Besides, the Union Ministry has also released grants to NGO-run educational complexes and vocational training centres in the low literacy pockets of states like Tripura and Nagaland, inhabited by some of the country's most primitive tribal groups, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs F S Kulaste told reporters here today.
The Union Ministry has launched a new scheme `Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana' through the National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC) for extending financial assistance up to Rs 50,000 to scheduled tribal women at a subsidised interest rate.
He said special assistance to the tune of Rs 110 crores was provided for infrastructure development in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal following their creation.
Fund allocation for tribal development increased from Rs 664.74 crores in 1999-2000 to Rs 1090 crores in 2002-03 and the NSTFDC, set up in 2001 with an authorised share capital of Rs 500 crores to finance economically viable projects for the scheduled tribes, till august 2002 has released loans to the tune of Rs 89.36 crores, the Union Minister said.
Bureau Report