NEW DELHI: The Centre spent over Rs 32,000 crore under the Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) during 2018-19, the highest expenditure amount in last three years.
During 2016-17, the expenditure under STC by central ministries/departments was Rs 20,955.4 crore and the amount spent during 2017-18 was Rs 30,018.27 crore.
Tribal sub-plan, which is now called the STC, is a dedicated source of fund for tribal development The figures came to light in a question in Parliament.
Funds worth Rs 100 crore was released for the support of the Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) during 2018-19.
The highest amount of funds for TRIs went to Jharkhand, Odisha, Nagaland and Madhya Pradesh.
During 2017-18, the amount of funds disbursed for TRI support was `79 crore while it was over `15 crore in 2016-17.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ welfare scheme for tribals include development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), strengthening education among ST girls in low literacy districts, grants in aid to TRIs, grants-in-aid to voluntary organisations working for STs and institutional support for development and marketing of tribal produce, among others.
According to the 2011 Census, the proportion of tribes to total population is 8.6 per cent in India.