NEW DELHI: The Central government has now decided to create a database of health profiles of tribals from across the country, in a bid to provide them holistic medical facilities and eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.
This would be the first time a government database will be created on the health profiles of tribal people living in nondescript forests and hilly areas in various states, including the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
“The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has started working on creating a mega database of over 7 crore tribal people living in different remote forest areas in the country, in order to provide them hassle-free holistic health care facilities,” Union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda told the reporters here on Tuesday.
The tribal affairs minister further said that the database will have the health profiles of over 7 crore tribal people, which would be linked to all major hospitals across the country and can be accessed online during their treatments from anywhere in India.
“The process of preparing health profiles of the tribal people has already been set into motion. This database will be linked with almost all prominent hospitals in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon make an announcement about the database soon,” the minister said.
According to Munda, as a part of the mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047, the database will also have health profiles of the tribals diagnosed with this disease. Apart from this, the Central government, in another first-of-its-kind move, has also decided to prepare the Human Development Index of tribal people, especially of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
“The human index will help us to accelerate comprehensive development plans for the tribal people, whose population numbers around 10.50 crore, and belongs to over 700 communities,” Munda said.
Upon being asked, the minister said that the human index plan of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups and other tribal communities would be in a digital portal format. Quoting figures, he said that an estimated population 28 lakh PVTGs lives in the country, spread across many states including Odisha, Gujarat and Jharkhand.
He further said that the Central government has requested all the states to set up Special Monitoring Cells for tribal affairs and constitute special teams of officials to supervise the schemes related to tribal developments.
He said that a huge fund of Rs 15,000 crore has been sanctioned by the Central government towards projects to uplift the lives of primitive people, adopting a holistic approach to their development.
“Out of the 1.25 lakh tribal-dominated villages in the country, around 36,000 villages of the tribal population have been selected to be developed as ‘Aadi Adarsh Gram’.
And the action plan for about 1,500 tribal villages to develop them as ‘Aadi Adarsh Gram’ villages have already been prepared,” the minister claimed. “Under the Pradhan Mantri Janajatiya Vikas Mission, there is a plan to set up 3,000 Haat Bazaars and 600 warehouses at an estimated budget of Rs 1,613 crore for five years,” the tribal affairs minister said.
HEALTH MATTERS
Plan
Health profiles of over 7 crore tribals would be linked with hospitals
Objective
Eradication of sickle cell anaemia by 2047
10.50 crore is the estimated tribal population
28 lakh is the estimated population of particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
1.25 lakh is the number of tribal-dominated villages
Rs 15,000 crore sanctioned by the Central government for projects to uplift the lives of primitive people, adopting a holistic approach