Consultation meeting of NE States on Forest Act concludes

GANGTOK, 30 Oct [IPR]: The inaugural session of the concluding day of the consultation meeting with North Eastern States and Sikkim organised by Ministry of Tribal Affairs on 29 October was chaired by Economic Advisor, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Sangeeta Verma. The session dealt with planning, implementation and monitoring of Tribal Sub Plan.
In her opening remarks, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, Vibha Puri Das stressed on the need to make tribal affairs knowledge-based and not simply allocation and expenditure based. She urged the participating States to get an individual status profile prepared in three major areas namely health, education and employability through help from concerned agencies. She said that the States needed to ensure development of these three sectors in terms of access and service delivery.
The Secretary's address was followed by a presentation by the Ministry of DoNER.
As part of the state-wise presentation, Secretary, Social Justice, Empowerment & Welfare Department Government of Sikkim, GB Upadhyay apprised about the schemes and programmes on Tribal Affairs being implemented by the State of Sikkim.
He maintained that adequate impetus is given to development of Scheduled Tribes in the States in terms of infrastructure, health, education, employability and capacity building. He also highlighted the various Missions of the State Government and explained how they have integrated with tribal affairs to extend benefits to the tribal population.
Similar presentations were also rendered by senior officers of Tripura, Manipur and Assam. The states explained their individual status reports in terms of planning, implementation and monitoring of Tribal Sub Plans.
Summing up the discussions, Principal Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department, Government of Manipur, Dev Burman stressed that for TSPs, indications need to improve in correspondence with the allocation and consultation process needs to be strengthened. Further, he mentioned that knowledge enrichment and capacity building of the Tribal Departments is very important to identify gaps because if Tribal Departments are not adequately staffed, it affects the performance.
Another issue he raised was the importance of good governance and the capacity of stakeholders in implementing schemes, importance of submission of TSP documents on time and the need for proper coordination between concerned departments.
The second half of the consultation dealt with Grant-in-Aid under NGO, schemes in the North Eastern States, conservation-cum-development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs), and review of other schemes or programmes. Principal Secretary, SJE&WD, Government of Sikkim summed up the recommendations.
The closing remarks were made by the Economic Advisor, Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

NE States meet for consultation on Forest Rights Act

GANGTOK, 28 Oct [IPR]: A two-day Consultation with North Eastern States on implementation of Forest Rights Act 2006 and review of all other schemes/programmes being implemented by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India began today here at Mayfair Resorts, Gangtok.
The inaugural session of the meeting was chaired by Minister for Urban Development & Housing Department Government of Sikkim, DB Thapa. The Consultation Meeting, organised by Ministry of Tribal Affairs Government of India in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had the presence of MLA cum Parliamentary Secretary, Binod Rai, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, Vibha Puri Das, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GOI, Sadhna Raut, Assistant Country Director, UNDP, Alka Narang, Chairman, Primitive Tribe Welfare Board, TW Lepcha, Chairman Scheduled Tribe Welfare Board, Phetook Tshering Bhutia, Principal Secretary, Social Justice, Empowerment & Welfare Department, Government of Sikkim, GB Upadhyay, and senior officers from the Social Welfare and Forest Department, North-eastern States and Sikkim.
The consultation meeting aims to strengthen collaboration between Ministry of Tribal Affairs and North Eastern States on matters relating to STs, review the progress on implementation of Forest Rights Act, review ongoing schemes/programmes of the Ministry and facilitate release of grants to North Eastern States, assess the preparedness of States on rollout of Direct Benefit Transfer in the North Eastern Region, follow up on the progress in implementation of Tribal Sub-Plans, and formulate specific guidelines for North-East in various schemes of Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
In her key note address, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs stressed on the need for each State to formulate a concrete Action Plan for effective implementation of programmes and schemes related to tribal affairs and minority issues. She urged the participants to share their respective progress reports and raise issues which can be deliberated upon in the meeting.
The chief guest, Minister DB Thapa informed that the Direct Benefit Scheme is making good headway and the State has already digitized 90% of the records of the beneficiaries. He however opined that the North-Eastern States and Sikkim have their own set of issues and challenges which restrict the smooth implementation of central schemes.
At the same time, the Minister expressed hope that the two-day consultation would help address issues and genuine concerns common to all the states of the North East and Sikkim, and that a workable solution would be arrived at.
Further, Mr. Thapa informed that the Government of Sikkim has been giving due consideration to development and economic empowerment of various tribal communities in the State. He also mentioned that the State is proud to host this regional consultation meeting and expressed hope that the deliberations would be fruitful for the Ministry and the North Eastern States.
The inaugural session was followed by Technical sessions on implementation of Forest Rights Act, Education and Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, and Special Area Programmes and Skills Development.