The ministry of social justice and empowerment launched the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED) to provide good quality coaching, health insurance and financial assistance for construction of houses for members of Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNT/NT/SNTs).

DNT/NT/SNT communities

• Denotified Tribes are those who were notified as being born criminal by the British government under a series of laws starting with the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. After Independence, this Act was repealed in 1952, and the communities were “denotified”, hence the name. Nomadic Tribes are the communities who usually do not have land and move from one place to another for livelihood.

• The DNT/NT/SNTs are among the most neglected, marginalised and economically deprived communities with most living a life of destitution.

• Historically, these communities never had access to private land or home ownership and used forests and grazing lands for their livelihood and residential use. 

• Most of them have been living a life of destitution for generations. DNT/NT/SNTs are deprived of the support unlike Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

• These tribes used forests and grazing lands for their livelihood and residential use and had strong ecological connections. Many of them are dependent upon various types of natural resources and carve out intricate ecological niches for their survival. The changes in ecology and environment seriously affect their livelihood options.

• In 2014, the ministry of social justice & empowerment constituted a National Commission for DNT/NT/SNTs under the chairmanship of Bhiku Ramji Idate. In 2017, the commission prepared draft lists of DNT/NT/SNTs. 

• Based on the Commission’s recommendations, the ministry constituted the Development and Welfare Board for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNCs) in 2019. The Board has been mandated to formulate and implement welfare and development programmes for these communities. 

Highlights of the scheme:

The scheme for empowerment of DNT/NT/SNT communities have been formulated for families having income from all sources of Rs 2.50 lakh or less per annum and not availing any such benefits from a similar scheme of Centre or state government.

The scheme will have four components with an approximate cost of Rs 200 crore to be spent over a period of 5 years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

1) To provide coaching to appear in competitive examinations

A component of free coaching for DNT students has been envisioned for the educational empowerment of these communities. The objective is to provide good coaching quality for DNT candidates to enable them to appear in competitive examinations/admission to professional courses like medicine, engineering, MBA, etc for obtaining an appropriate job in public/private sector. 

The selection of the candidates for each course will be based on system generated merit list through the portal. Approximately, 6,250 students will be provided free coaching under this component in five years. The total funds to be spent in five years will be Rs 50 crore.

2) To provide health insurance

Members of DNT/NT/SNT communities are likely to have little or no access to medical facilities and other benefits available under the mainstream health policies. The primary objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to National Health Authority (NHA) in association with State Health Agencies (SHAs) for undertaking providing a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year to DNT/NT/SNT families as per norms of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Approximately, 444,500 families will be covered under health insurance in five years. The total funds to be spent in five years will be Rs 49 crore.

3) To facilitate livelihoods initiative at community level to build and strengthen small clusters of institutions

It aims to provide financial assistance to National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) for undertaking institution building in association with State Rural Livelihoods Mission (SRLM) of state governments/UTs at community level as a livelihood initiative to enhance productivity growth in key livelihood sectors for employment generation for DNT/NT/SNT communities through investments in institutional support, technical assistance. Approximately, 2,000 clusters will get benefit under this component in five years. The total funds to be spent in five years will be Rs 49 crore.

4) To provide financial assistance for construction of houses

At present, a very large number of families belonging to the DNTs are without permanent shelters and dwellings. 

Considering the shortage of houses for DNTs, it has been proposed to earmark a separate outlay for PMAY to support specific importance in providing houses only for DNTs living in rural areas who have not taken benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as SC, ST, OBC and are living below poverty line. The admissible support is Rs 1.20 lakh in plains and 1.30 lakh in hilly areas (per unit assistance). Approximately, 4,200 houses will be constructed under this component in five years. The total funds to be  spent in five years will be Rs 50 crore.

How will this scheme be implemented?

• The scheme will be implemented through a portal. It consists of two modules. One module for registration of the applicant with details of his family, income, occupation, Aadhaar and bank details, caste certificate, etc.

• Upon completing the registration, the applicant will be assigned a unique ID (UID) number, which will be his permanent registration number. With this UID, the applicant can apply for one or other components of the scheme, subject to his/her eligibility. 

• The second part consists of the scheme component for which the applicant wants to seek benefit with his UID as login id and his/her mobile number  password. The portal will create a permanent database and can be retrieved whenever the applicant desires to enroll for new component.

• The funds will be transferred directly to the beneficiaries in their account. 

• The other implementing agencies are the ministry of rural development, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Health Authority (NHA).

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