Explained: What Is Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna And Its Objectives

Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna supplements the efforts of state governments for the development and welfare of tribal people by extending special assistance to them

A tribal woman collecting water for drinking at Tirthamoni village in Agartala, Tripura

Source : Getty

Renuka Singh, Minister of State (MoS) for Tribal Affairs, said that the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs is working to develop 36,428 villages with at least 50% tribal population and 500 STs across the country into ‘model tribal’ villages at the Lok Sabha on December 12.

She also stated that these initiatives were part of the Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS), which has now been renamed to Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY) and would be implemented between 2021-22 to 2025-26.

What is Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna?

Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna supplements the efforts of state governments for the development and welfare of tribal people by extending special assistance to them. It aims to transform villages with significant tribal populations into 'model village' (Adarsh Gram) covering about a population of 4.22 crore, which is about 40% of the country's total tribal population.

Objectives of Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna

The objectives of the PMAAGY include-

• Achieving integrated socio-economic development of selected villages through a convergence approach.
  
  
• Preparing Village Development Plan based on the needs, potential, and aspirations of the tribals.
  
  
• Maximizing the coverage of individual/family benefit schemes of the Central/State governments
  
  
• Improving the infrastructure in vital sectors like health, education, connectivity and livelihood.
  
  
• The scheme envisions to mitigate gaps in prominent eight sectors of development:

            1. Road connectivity (Internal and Inter village /block)
            2. Telecom connectivity (Mobile /internet)
            3. School
            4. Anganwadi Centres
            5. Health Sub-Centre
            6. Drinking water facility
            7. Drainage
            8. Solid waste management

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs said in a statement that a total of about 16,554 villages have already been taken up for development during 2021-22 and 2022-23. It has also stated that so far, an amount of Rs 1,927 crore has been released to the States and Village Development Plan for the implementation of the scheme.