Build on Outreach

(Source: The Indian Express, Editorial Page)

Also Read: The Indian Express Editorial Analysis: 26 June 2025
Also Read: The Hindu Editorial Analysis: 26 June 2025

Topic: GS2 – Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections, Government Policies and Interventions

Context

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has initiated a focused outreach programme aimed at improving the delivery of essential welfare schemes among India’s most marginalised tribal communities. Through schemes like PM-JANMAN and DAGYU-A, the government seeks to ensure basic entitlements such as documentation, healthcare, and financial inclusion reach the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). This editorial highlights the importance of such outreach and the challenges that continue to hamper inclusive governance.

Government Interventions and Objectives

• Policy Innovation:
  The PM-JANMAN and DAGYU-A schemes aim to bring vital services to tribal hamlets. These include issuing Aadhaar cards, Ayushman Bharat health cards, forest rights claims, and opening Jan Dhan bank accounts.
• Participatory Governance:
  The initiative stresses on community mobilisation and the use of local champions or volunteers to promote participatory governance. This marks a shift from a top-down delivery model to one that encourages bottom-up empowerment.
• Targeted Coverage:
  PM-JANMAN is designed specifically for 75 PVTGs spread across 18 states and 1 UT, recognising that standard welfare models often overlook these remote communities.

Persistent Challenges on Ground

• Geographical Isolation:
  Many tribal villages are located in remote and forested terrains, disconnected from road, electricity, and communication infrastructure.
• Landlessness and Displacement:
  Decades of forced migration and land alienation have left communities like the Katkari Adivasis without basic documentation such as birth certificates, essential for availing government services.
• Documentation Delays:
  Bureaucratic red tape and digital illiteracy delay the process of securing welfare entitlements, leaving many in limbo even after outreach initiatives.
• Social and Cultural Barriers:
  Language diversity, local customs, and historical neglect have created a trust deficit between tribal groups and state institutions.

Implementation Bottlenecks

• Infrastructure Deficits:
  Outreach often fails in areas lacking schools, health centres, and transport networks, which limits the effectiveness of scheme delivery.
• Inadequate Staffing and Training:
  Absence of trained local facilitators or frontline workers with contextual understanding reduces the impact of initiatives.
• Fragmented Planning:
  Lack of coordination between central and state agencies, and poor convergence with tribal development plans under TSP, hinder the programme’s sustainability.

Key Features and Challenges of Tribal Outreach Programmes

Feature	Description
Schemes Launched	PM-JANMAN and DAGYU-A
Target Group	75 PVTGs in 18 states and 1 Union Territory
Core Benefits	Aadhaar, health cards, bank accounts, forest rights documentation
Primary Implementation Gaps	Remote locations, lack of infrastructure, poor documentation
Way Forward	Local mobilisation, real-time support, co-creation with communities

Conclusion & Way Forward

The outreach must transition from being event-based to sustained and community-led. This includes:

• Training local volunteers and youth from the communities.

• Setting up real-time grievance redressal systems.

• Using cultural sensitisation and language-specific communication.

• Establishing co-created welfare strategies through consistent dialogue with tribal leaders.

Without these reforms, efforts like PM-JANMAN may be reduced to photo-op governance rather than structural change.

Practice Question: (GS-1 | 15 Marks | 250 Words) Discuss the significance of schemes like PM-JANMAN in addressing the welfare needs of PVTGs in India. Highlight the challenges and suggest reforms for effective outreach.