Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry to launch a Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED)

What is the news?

The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment will launch the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED).

Background

De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes are the most neglected, marginalised and economically and socially deprived communities.

In 2014, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment constituted a National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes for a period of three years. This commission gave recommendations and prepared draft lists of DNT/NT/SNT Communities. 

Based on the Commission’s recommendations, the Development and Welfare Board for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNCs) was setup in 2019. The Board has been mandated to formulate and implement welfare and development programmes for these communities.

What is the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED)?

Aim: To economically empower De-notified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Communities. 

Duration of the Scheme: The scheme will be for a period of 5 years starting Financial Year 2021-22 to 2025-26.

Eligibility: The scheme has been formulated for families having income from all sources of Rs.2.50 lakh or less per annum and not availing any such benefits from similar Scheme of Centre Government or the State Government.

Components of the Scheme:

– To provide coaching of good quality for DNT/NT/SNT candidates to enable them to appear in competitive examinations.

– To provide health insurance to DNT/NT/SNT Communities.

– To facilitate livelihoods initiative at community level to build and strengthen small clusters of DNT/NT/SNT Communities institutions.

– To provide financial assistance for construction of houses to members of the DNT/NT/SNT Communities.

Implementation: The scheme will be implemented through a portal that has been developed by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment. Portal comprises of two modules:

– One for registration of applicants with details of his family, income, Aadhaar & bank details, occupation, caste certificate, etc.Upon completing the registration, the applicant will be assigned a unique ID(UID) number.

– Second part consists of a scheme component for which the applicant wants to seek benefit with his UID.

Note: The other implementing agencies of the scheme are Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Health Authority (NHA).

Source: This post is based on the article “Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry to launch a Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED)” published in PIB on 16th Feb 2022.