Opinion: Pradhan Mantri PVTG Mission can improve, empower vulnerable Tribals

This essay pores over how the Pradhan Mantri Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PM-PVTGs) can benefit the target groups, its rollout and the challenges. Authored by Associate Prof. Srinivas Nallala and Assistant Prof. Upasona Ghosh (Assistant Professor) Indian Institute of Public Health, Bhubaneswar.

One of the key breakthrough initiatives of this year’s union budget is announcement of Pradhan Mantri PVTG Mission with special provisions to allocate Rs. 15,000 crore for the next three years for the welfare of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). The proposed scheme envisages reaching out to the most vulnerable section of our society by ensuring safe housing, clean drinking water, improved sanitation, access to education, health and nutrition to PVTG families. The schemes will also create better infrastructures including road and telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities. This novel scheme will benefit a population of around 30 Lakh belonging to 75 PVTGs, living across 18 States and 1 Union Territory in India.

What is PVTG?In India, PVTG is a sub-group of Scheduled Tribe or section of a Scheduled Tribe, who are more vulnerable than the common Scheduled Tribes. The PVTGs are a small homogenous population living mostly in isolation, often in remote areas with forested or difficult terrain. After India’s independence, the consecutive governments provisioned various developmental schemes which benefited largely the assertive Tribal groups in their developmental enculturation. However, PVTGs because of their geographical isolation are still being trapped between traditional and mainstream developmental paths. Their small population, scattered habitation and deep-rooted cultural practices put them at bottom of the developmental ladder which was difficult to reach by the system.

How PM-PVTGM can empower them? Here comes the relevance of Pradhan Mantri PVTG Mission (PM-PVTGM) which is expected to focus on the specific needs of the PVTGs rather than a blanket approach targeted to all the Schedule tribes. However, such a targeting approach is often challenging in actual implementation of the scheme at the ground which needs an evidence-based planning and meticulous monitoring of the implementation of the scheme with greater involvement of the local people.

Integration of existing schemes in PM-PVTG- Mission There are several existing schemes that are implemented by both Central and State Governments, therefore, before the actual implementation of the PM-PVTG Mission national and state bodies which are going to be steering the Mission need to assess and consider the local contextual factors influencing the welfare of each PVTGs so that the existing schemes are well integrated with the PM-PVTG Mission.

Rollout-The concerned agencies have to recognise that all the PVTGs are not the same and they have their distinct cultural dimensions, vulnerabilities towards extinction and in their readiness to accept the benefits offered to them by the mission. A strong foundation need to be laid down for effective implementation and sustainability of the mission by strengthening institutional capacities at various levels through research, training and implementation support by experts in the field.

Operational mechanism for multi-sectoral collaboration including various government departments, civil societies, private and CSR organizations also need to be developed and nurtured through-out the implementation. Further, empowered participation by the beneficiary community i.e. PVTGs is essential for greater acceptance, success and sustainability of schemes going to offered by the mission. Evidence suggests that the approach of community engagement has immense potential for successful programmes yet often neglected by various developmental initiatives.

Challenges ahead-Till date, education has been in the forefront of Tribal development which resulted in improved literacy parameters of scheduled tribes and to some extent PVTGs were also benefited. However, health of Tribals has been lagging behind in comparison to the rural counterparts. Tribal people across the India are now suffering from quadruple burden of diseases with increased incidence of communicable diseases, modern life-style related non-communicable diseases, malnutrition and mental health challenges.

If we further disaggregate Tribal health data into PVTG and Non-PVTG, one can observe that the PVTGs health status would be worse hit. In the backdrop of India’s commitment to achieve SDGs and “leaving no one behind”, health has potential to link all other SDG indicators and thus can take the center stage of PM-PVTG Mission.

Health has strong connections with all other determinants like education, livelihood, nutrition, housing, water and sanitation and can pull the strings together to bridge the developmental gap. Spurring progress on the lagging health indicators is essential, and designing an appropriate healthcare delivery system, which is accessible, acceptable, and affordable to the Tribal population, especially for PVTGs is of utmost importance; making it more imperative to have a health system that prioritizes Tribal population and PM-PVTG Mission is an opportunity not to be missed.