Government to release tribal funds ahead of polls

NEW DELHI: Ahead of elections in three BJP-ruled tribal-dominated states, Modi government has moved for course correction on tribal spends. After an internal analysis revealed unspent funds to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore, the government has decided to turn around the scheme and speed up release of funds in October.

The government’s minimum support price (MSP) for minor forest produce (MFP), which involves buying MFPs from tribals at village haats and guaranteeing them MSP, has been a complete non-starter.

Initiated by Congress-led UPA at the end of 2013-14 financial year, the scheme was dependent on the response from states. However, so far only Rs 128 crore has been spent by tribal-dominated states in procuring MFPs and selling them. Of this Rs 128 crore, the majority expense has been by Chhattisgarh, which is about Rs 120 crore.

According to the internal analysis by tribal affairs ministry, Rs 356 crore is lying unspent with nine states, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Nagaland.

Over the last four years of implementation, 70% of the MFPs acquired from tribals have been lying in godowns and not been processed and sold further.

The analysis also revealed that the government does not know how many tribal beneficiaries it has reached through the fouryear-old programme. According to ministry sources, the scheme being implemented was not in consonance with what was approved by the Cabinet in 2013.

The state governments were supposed to rope in self-help groups to have a presence at the village haats so that a tribal could come and sell the minor forest produce collected to the groups. A senior ministry official told ET, “There is a budget of Rs 1,272 crore for the scheme now.

So far no state has set up procurement and value addition centres.” The administrative deficiencies plagued the scheme like the states were never told how to rope in self-help groups, the commission to be paid to these groups, what kind of value addition centres to set up and whee.

Now, it is being turned around with a deadline of October. An expert committee in the ministry has addressed the systemic problems. A command and control centre has been set up in TRIFED, the nodal agency to coordinate the entire scheme. As first reported by ET on August 7, the government would also effect an increase in MSP by 40-60%.