Women made up over 74% beneficiaries under financial assistance scheme of NSTFDC in 2021-22: Govt. to LS

NSTFDC provided financial assistance to over 1.6 lakh STs in 2021-22 for undertaking income generation activities, which included education loans to students

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs on March 13 informed the Lok Sabha that the National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC) had provided financial assistance to over 1.6 lakh Scheduled Tribes persons in 2021-22 for undertaking income generation activities, which included education loans to students. Of these, over 1.2 lakh (74.9%) ST beneficiaries were women, the Ministry said.

Responding to a question about the number of employment opportunities created for Scheduled Tribes persons under various schemes run by the Union Government, the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh Saruta said that the government was running various schemes for this through several Ministries.

ALSO READ | Tribal women farmers of Tirupati seek gender equality at work as they venture into herbal products market

Ms. Saruta said that under the Pradhan Mantri Janajatiya Vikas Mission (PMJVM), the Tribal Affairs Ministry provided funds to procure Minor Forest Produce (MFP) at a minimum support price. She added that the Tribal Co-Operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) had also sanctioned 3,225 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVK), which benefitted more than nine lakh people. The VDVKs target “employment generation for tribals by harnessing the wealth of forest i.e. Van Dhan”, the MoS said.

Furthermore, the government said, “Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, etc., are implementing schemes for providing employment under the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP)/Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST).”

Ms. Saruta said that under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 6,217.84 lakh ST Person days had been generated during the year 2021-22. The government added that a total of over 1.3 lakh ST people had benefitted from the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), the Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) and the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) programmes of the Skill Development Ministry.