HYDERABAD: Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Bishweshwar Tudu has said that his Ministry has not received any proposal from the Telangana government seeking an increase for the reservation of Scheduled Tribes to 12 per cent. He was responding to a question raised by Congress MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy on tribal welfare and reservation for Scheduled Tribes in the parliament on Monday.
The Minister also informed that the Ministry of Tribal Affair has done a gap analysis of tribal villages in Telangana based on Mission Antyodaya data of the Ministry of Rural Development to assess the socio-economic infrastructure gaps in tribal villages. Keeping in view the infrastructure gap in tribal villages, the scheme, Special Central Assistance (SCA) was revamped to Tribal Sub Scheme (TSS).
Replying to questions regarding the funds sanctioned by the Union government towards infrastructural development in tribal villages in the State, the Minister said that Telangana was sanctioned Rs 4191 lakh under the Tribal Sub Scheme, Rs 1460.50 lakh under the Scheme of Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups and Rs 2729 lakh under Article 275(1) of the Constitution during 2020-21.
Meanwhile, replying to an RTI filed by one Ravikumar Inaganti about the establishment of the Tribal University in Telangana, the Department of Higher Education has replied that the site for construction of the Tribal University has been identified at Bhupalapalli.The department has also disclosed that the delay in identification of land by the State government was the reason for the delay in establishment of the university.
The reply further states that the detailed project report (DPR) has been prepared and inter-ministerial consultations have been done.The expenditure for establishment of the university has been approved for proposal and further process was underway, says the RTI reply.