Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified, Nomadic, Semi-nomadic (SEED) Tribes

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The Union Minister of Social Justice has received more than 400 online applications from across the country to get benefits under the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified, Nomadic, Semi-nomadic (SEED) Tribes.

Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DNCs)

The term 'De-notified Tribes' stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Act 1871.
- They remained hunter-gatherers and
The policies of the colonial government affected lives and livelihood This led ultimately resulted in forcible alienation from their traditional occupations and habitations.
These discriminatory Acts were nullified by the Indian Government in l952, and these communities were "De-Notified".
According to the latest data, currently, more than 10 crores of Indians from 1,400 communities belong to these groups.

About SEED

The scheme aims to provide;
- Free coaching for competitive exams.
- Health insurance and financial assistance for housing.
The Union Minister of Social Justice has allocated Rs 200 crore to be spent from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Under the scheme, a unique ID would be issued to each applicant to apply and track the status of the online application on the portal.

Challenges

Not a single application has been approved, as the exercise to categorise all 1,400 communities under the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes are obstructing the implementation of the scheme.

Steps were taken by the Government

The Renke Commission (2008) was set up to look into the problems of these communities.
The National Commission (2015) was constituted under the chairmanship of Shri Bhiku Ramji Idate for the planned development of these communities.
The Government of India set up the Development and Welfare Board for DNTs, SNTs &NTs (DWBDNCs) in 2019.