New Delhi [India], June 19 (HBTV): Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram on Wednesday said the central government has kept an overall 7.5 per cent of the budget for the tribal communities in India. He said the government has initiated various schemes for the tribal community, which he claimed has significantly brought a change in their lives. 

In an exclusive interview with ANI, the minister said, ‘We have a budget of more than INR 5 lakh crore for the tribal community that can be spent on their welfare projects. Also, each ministry has its tribal component. So, in total, we have an overall 7.5 per cent allocation of budget for tribal communities.’ 

"We are working on the Eklavya Model Mission Schools. We are working on constituting 740 Eklavya Model schools. During the reign of Atal (Bihari Vajpayee, former prime minister), the targeted mission of schools was 100 from which we had constituted 84. But when the Congress party came into the rule, the mission became relatively slow,’ Jual Oram stated.      

‘After Narendra Modi came to power, the speed of the project is revamped and now, we have funds of more than INR 1.50 lakh crore available for the project." 

Oram also spoke about the National Rural Livelihoods Mission – Aajeevika. He said to be working on a livelihood scheme.   

‘In the livelihood scheme, we have provided MSPs on more than 87 products which has increased the income of tribes, as, initially the middlemen used to purchase those items at lower rates.’  

"We have made 3,958 Van Dhan Vikas Kendra operational. We have built various storage godowns. We are providing marketing support to tribes for the non-timber forest products, which has brought a significant change in their life," said Oram. 

Non-timber forest products are any products or services that come from forests but are not timber.

(ANI) This is a syndicated news feed. HBTV has edited it for clarity.