Arjun Munda: 'Over 4,000 tribal students provided with scholarship through DBT'

Over 4,793 tribal students have been given a scholarship through the Direct Benefit Transfer (BDT) in around 331 universities across the country, said union Tribal Welfare Minister Arjun Munda on Saturday. According to him, during 2019-20, Rs 2,500 crore was transferred to the students' accounts as a scholarship under five schemes. He further added that the union government has been providing pre and post-matriculation scholarships to tribal students.

According to Munda, the government is focusing on saving tribal people and getting them fair returns on forest produce. While all the state governments have been instructed about the same, the minimum support price has been increased on 49 items of forest produce amid the pandemic. Further, the government is also focusing on the development of infrastructure, road construction with culverts for facilitating transport, developing irrigation systems, and providing electricity in tribal areas. According to the minister, a total of Rs 16,000 crore has been spent on the projects. Meanwhile, as many as 1,125 'Van Dhan Kendras' are being set up across the country.

Read: Arunachal Pradesh releases Rs 53.26 as stipend, scholarship to students

Munda lauds Centre 

Lauding the Centre, the minister said that good governance is a key to tribal social uplift. According to him, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Tribal Welfare Ministry has been doing a remarkable job since the past one year. He further added that responsibility and transparency have been brought in the functioning of the ministry. 

Read: BJD MP sends textbooks and food to 30,000 tribal children in 25 districts of Odisha

Munda's suggestions to states

Earlier on May 12, Munda had suggested the states to set up small-scale units at the village level to employ tribal returnees. According to him, Minor Forest Produce (MFP) is a major source of employment for tribals. The Minister had held a  video conference with chief ministers and ministers of Tribal Affairs of different states,. During the video conference, he had deliberated on matters pertaining to the Tribal communities, in general, and implementation of minimum support price (MSP) for MFP.

Read: Tribal families in Kerala take up farming under 'Subhiksha Keralam' project

Read: Minor forest produce is a major source of employment for tribals: Arjun Munda