CHENNAI: The tribal welfare department has decided to involve NGOs to implement schemes for improving the livelihood of tribal people and a marking system to choose the right NGOs for the job.
The move comes as the tribal livelihood schemes are not sustainable in the long term and the government is also struggling to identify eligible beneficiaries under the scheme. Officials from the tribal welfare department said many NGOs have a presence in remote areas and are already implementing livelihood schemes, of which many are successful,
According to the government order, dated June 21, the tribal welfare director wrote to the government to grant permission to provide funding for livelihood schemes to NGOs and allow them to monitor the beneficiaries. Another method involves directly providing funding to the beneficiaries and NGOs will be given administrative costs incurred to monitor implementation of the scheme.
The GO also stated that it is necessary to empanel the NGOs, government organisations, cooperative societies and farmer manufacturing organisations based on a marking system to ensure that the right people are chosen to implement the scheme. These bodies will be provided marks based on sales, their infrastructure at district and zonal levels, staff strength and experience, experience in conducting surveys and working in tribal areas and awards received at state, central and international levels.
The tribal welfare department will soon rank interested NGOs and involve them in various schemes in districts, said sources. “There is a need to create awareness about rights among the tribal people. Only then, the livelihood schemes will be beneficial to the people. As far as we know, there are only a handful of NGOs working for the benefit of the people as it is difficult working for a long time in remote areas,” said VP Gunasekaran, president of Tamil Nadu Pazhankudi Makkal Sangam.