Guwahati: In a major move towards inclusive growth, Assam on Monday organised the Regional Conference of the Government of India's flagship tribal development programme for empowering tribal communities with an aim to achieve 100 percent saturation of welfare schemes in tribal hamlets. The conference, organised in Guwahati, was hosted by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and was participated by delegations from all seven Northeastern states.
The mission which was first initiated by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on 15 November last year is a national movement to see to it that no Scheduled Tribe (ST) family is left out of developmental opportunities, either at the central or state level. Exclusively speaking to Business Northeast (BNE), Udayaditya Gogoi, Director of Tribal Affairs, Assam, discussed the significance of the day's events.
"This scheme is being adopted in the country on a phased basis. Today's seminar is specific to the Northeast region," Gogoi said. "It will show the states the way to adopt the scheme effectively. It's a planned and comprehensive strategy conceived by the Prime Minister".
As per Gogoi, the scheme will require the concerted action of 17 line ministries at the national level. For Assam and its border states, 15 main departments will be involved, such as Public Health Engineering, Public Works, Health, Education, and Information Technology.
"Every tribal village is to be filled with development schemes," he stressed. "It will be the cockpit of development, where all the families that were left out earlier will now come under the ambit of state and central government welfare programmes."
Notably, the scheme is reserved for Scheduled Tribes alone, as a reminder of the government's resolve to uplift historically disadvantaged groups. Gogoi emphasized that if any tribal home has fallen behind on past entitlements housing, sanitation, education, healthcare, or digital connectivity they will now be rightfully covered.
"It's a correction as much as it is a march forward," he said. "The basic premise is to leave no ST household behind." The regional workshop is looking to bring forth clarity and guidance to the officials of the seven participating states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. Officials from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs who are experts and resource persons were on hand to aid in comprehending the multi-ministerial coordination that is needed for the success of the scheme.
This concerted push is a watershed in the Centre's policy towards tribal development, one that emphasizes saturation over incremental implementation. As the Northeast remains strategic and cultural importance in India's national development agenda, the success of such schemes would be a game-changer in narrowing the socio-economic divide in tribal regions.
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