Covid-19 has been a tidal wave in India. From the sudden lockdown of 2020 leading to the migrant workers’ crisis to the catastrophic second wave in 2021 that had a high fatality rate, the virus has swept through urban and rural populations.
In remote corners of the country, tribals — many of whom have little to no education or awareness and minimum exposure to the mainstream — are susceptible to the unrelenting waves.
Particularly vulnerable during the pandemic are tribal groups that have already been classified thus — the PVTGs.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in June last year issued an advisory to ensure protection of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups from the spread of Covid-19.
However, statistics available in the public domain present a few questions.
According to the last uploaded annual report from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, there has been a steep drop in 2020-21 in utilisation of funds under the scheme for exclusive development of PVTGs.
The two-decade-old central scheme funds socio-economic development activities undertaken by states and had been revamped in September 2019.
Against the previous release of Rs 250 crore annually, the amount for 2020-21 was Rs 70.76 crore as of December 2020. A further Rs 68.23 crore was estimated to be released in the remaining quarter of the financial year, bringing the total to Rs 140 crore, against the budget estimate of Rs 250 crore.
Earlier, in mid-2019 when the coronavirus had not struck, the Rajya Sabha was told that less than 5% of the funds allocated for PVTG development were utilised in 2018-19. The ministry’s website, however, mentions both its revised estimate as well as ‘expenditure/released’ amount as Rs 250 crore.
The Tribal Affairs Ministry had sanctioned Rs 239.46 crore under the scheme in 2017-18, of which Rs 223.19 crore was reported utilised.
Sources said data has not been collated with respect to Covid vaccination of PVTGs. They, however, maintained that the Ministry was proactively holding awareness campaigns, in collaboration with the UNICEF, for the tribals.
In March 2021, when the devastating second Covid wave was upon India, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh Saruta told the Rajya Sabha that apart from regular monitoring, an impact assessment of the centrally sponsored scheme for PVTGs has been undertaken by the ministry and the NITI Aayog.
Current status of fund utilisation is not available as of now.
