The Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED) was launched on 16 February 2022 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with the objectives of making provisions for education, health, livelihoods, land and housing.
But the programmes under SEED are not exclusively designed for DNTs. Institutional coaching under the scheme is meant to help SC, ST, OBC and EBC students enter higher education. The health insurance scheme is implemented through Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana run by the National Health Authority. The livelihood component is implemented through the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and the State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLM). The land and housing component is overseen by Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), and Indira Awas Yojana (IAY). Implementation depends on the allocation of funds by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Rural Development, while the Development and Welfare Board for Denotified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNC) is responsible for coordinating with the above agencies.
An amount of Rs 200 crore has been sanctioned by the MoSJE to the DWBDNC for a period of 5 years, which works out to 40 crore per annum. The amount set aside for administrative expenses is 1 per cent of the total project cost or 2 crores, which will be about Rs 40 lakhs per annum. The year-wise release of funds is not available either on the websites of the ministry (MoSJE) or the board (DWBDNC).
In spite of the DWBDNC chairperson and board members touring states, meeting officials and organizing meetings, they have little to show in terms of enhanced, more effective welfare measures for DNTs. Officials were being given instructions to implement schemes for DNTs at the district-level meetings, but the district-level officials had no clue who the DNTs are and what the schemes available for their development are and how the schemes were to be made accessible to the DNTs. No orientations have been arranged by the DWBDNC for the government personnel with regard to the scheme since DWBDNC members themselves lack awareness about the DNTs.
A letter was issued on 18 August 2020, by Sri Reddi Subramanyam, IAS, Secretary, MoSJE, whose paragraph 4 says, “I am grateful if you entrust the responsibility of conducting this survey of the DNT Communities (List enclosed) in your state/UT to a Department or Organization, so that the database can be built up before 31st December 2020. The Cost of the data collection can be met by the Central Government.” But none of the states bothered to carry out the survey and neither MoSJE nor the DWBDNC could do anything to spur the states into action.
At the root of this inaction by the state governments lies the lack of Constitutional rights to DNTs as a community. They are mentioned as Denotified Communities (DNCs) in government records, and in the absence of an exclusive department or ministry, personnel exclusively charged with providing welfare to DNTs, implementing programmes for DNTs “Dilli to galli” may not be possible. Other department personnel have their regular work and are not able to take up additional responsibilities meant for the welfare of the DNTs. Hence implementing any programme for the DNTs at the grassroots needs vision and creativity from the administration and management, which could be least expected from the government system.
The chairperson and the members of the Board are not appointed on the basis of experience, familiarity with DNTs or capabilities, but on the basis of their affiliation with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or of a pro-RSS ideology, and with patronage of the BJP. Thus, they have no accountability to the DNTs.
Dr K.M. Metry, Dean of Tribal Studies in Hampi University, has published books about nomadic peoples with funds from the Karnataka Pustaka Pradhikara. He deployed members of each community with basic reading and writing skills in the field to collect information. Prof Metry himself comes from a Scheduled Tribe (ST) category nomadic tribe. His familiarity with the nomads of Karnataka, coupled with his willingness to trust members of the nomadic tribes with the task of collecting information on their tribes, led to creation of excellent literature on the nomads of Karnataka, with a separate volume on each tribe.
The style of functioning of DWBDNC is quite the opposite. The overconfidence of their personnel and their unwillingness to involve DNTs in surveys has contributed to the failure of ASI’s ethnographic study.
The DWBDNC did nothing for the DNTs until the end of 2023. To make matters worse, Bhiku Ramji Idate, who had a good rapport with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), had to leave the board, after he was not given an extension. The Board became rudderless and chaos prevailed.
On 18 January 2024, MOSJE approved three Corporations as additional implementing agencies, for the livelihoods component of SEED. But these three Corporations are in no way related to the DNTs, This decision was made without the consent or approval of the (headless) Board. The three corporations then hired two NGOs and a government organization to form DNT Self-Help Groups, which they are doing in a haphazard manner due to the lack of their understanding of the DNTs. The NGOs were hired unilaterally without involving stakeholder organizations. No applications were invited.
A contempt of court case was filed by advocate Goutam Rajbhar against the MOSJE and DWBDNC regarding the lackadaisical implementation of SEED. Subsequently DWBDNC filed an affidavit in response to the contempt of court case on 10 October 2024, in which it claimed that it had formed 994 self-help groups involving 7878 beneficiaries for promoting livelihood in four states – Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana – through NGOs Prayatna in Gujarat and Haryana and Nirman in Maharashtra, and the National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Andhra Pradesh, all of which have been engaged by National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC) and National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC). The board also claimed various activities for enhancing livelihood were in progress. According to the board, 12 DNT students and 43 DNT students have been enrolled for free coaching courses (for qualifying exams) being conducted by Central University of Tamil Nadu and Central University of Gujarat. These courses started in September 2024. Similarly for courses, for which the qualifying exam is the Class 12 board exam, students were presently being enrolled for coaching classes and the last date for enrolment was 4 November 2024. The board also declared that in Gujarat so far 5653 Ayushman cards have been issued and in Maharashtra, 248 cards have been issued to DNT beneficiaries. DNT organizations have tried to verify these claims but have hit a roadblock due to lack of transparency of the NGOs involved at the grassroots. Only an RTI application would reveal the ground reality.
When SEED was first announced in 2022, at least 8060 NT and DNTs applied online for the livelihood component from Andhra Pradesh, but they haven’t received any response to date. Self-appointed social workers collected thousands of rupees while assisting the applicants with the online applications and assuring them of loans.
The application process is cumbersome, especially for the illiterate, homeless people. Identification papers and a DNT certificate are required. To add to their woes, the bureaucracy has little knowledge about the DNTs and there seems to be confusion about the issuance of DNT certificates. The Government of Andhra Pradesh announced implementation of SEED for the DNTs and NTs as a magic wand to liberate them from the clutches of poverty.
The state’s Backward Classes Finance Corporation has been collecting details of the nomadic people from the panchayat secretaries and Municipal Corporations in certain districts, while the Principal Secretary already has a backup plan for the eventuality of funds not arriving from SEED – which is to repeat the scheme the Telugu Desam Party government implemented in 2018-2019 through disbursing loans of Rs 30,000 each to the listed DNTs and NTs with 90 per cent subsidy on interest. Thus there is confusion and uncertainty all around and from the top to bottom due to the lack of transparency, accountability and democratic decision-making.
Suggested resolution of the problems
The SEED Scheme needs to be implemented by DWBDNC directly, and the three additional agencies, which are in no way related to the NT or DNTs, should be removed. A chairperson of the board needs to be appointed immediately irrespective of his/her political affiliations. He/she should be familiar with the living conditions and issues of NT, DNT and SNTs. The selection of NGOs to be entrusted with forming SHGs should be transparent. Agreements made with the additional implementing agencies should be cancelled. Existing NGO operations should be stopped, and fresh applications should be invited from local organizations familiar with the DNT-NT people. Year-wise funds released and expenditure statements should be posted on the websites of the MoSJE and DWBDNC. Orientation camps should be organized for bureaucrats and other stakeholders at various levels regarding NT-DNTs, to familiarize them with the problems these people face and discuss remedies. The DWBDNC should follow up with various ministries involved as stakeholders in SEED, and provide staff and funds needed for governance and administration. DNT experts should be hired in implementing the scheme for livelihoods by developing criteria and guidelines for selecting beneficiaries. The services of the existing state-level DNT Welfare Boards need to be used for posting collected DNT data online and for monitoring implementation of schemes. Last but not the least, a Rs 100 Crore micro-credit bank should be created to sustainably meet the small credit needs of NT, DNT and SNT through the SHGs being formed under the supervision of state-level DNT Welfare Boards.
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