Modi govt goes the extra mile to woo tribal population ahead of polls

The moves in the budget are just the latest in a string of efforts that have been employed by the BJP for quite a while

In a bid to woo tribals ahead of upcoming general elections in 2024, the central government has opened its coffers in the Union Budget 2023-24 for tribal communities and scheduled castes. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday increased the budgetary allocation for the tribal affairs ministry by 50 per cent to Rs 12,847 crore for FY24, from Rs 8,451 in FY23.

In her budget speech, Sitharaman announced a host of important measures for scheduled tribes, such as recruiting 38,000 teachers and support staff for the 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools serving 340,000 tribal students in order to provide quality middle and high-level education to scheduled tribes (ST) students in remote areas.

The budgetary allocation for Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) was raised by about 200 per cent to Rs 5,943 crore for FY24. It saw an increase of more than 460 per cent over the FY22 allocated amount.

In FY23, the Union government used the entire allocated fund of Rs 2,000 crore under the EMRS head.

Finance minister in her introductory sentence made it clear that the budget is aimed not just at the middle-class but at scheduled castes and scheduled tribes as well.

“We envision a prosperous and inclusive India, in which the fruits of development reach all regions and citizens, especially our youth, women, farmers, OBCs, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,” Sitharaman said during her speech.

The FM also announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group) Development Mission with an outlay of Rs 15,000 crore for the implementation of the mission in the next three years, under the Development Action Plan for the scheduled tribes. The fund will be spent on basic facilities such as safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

Schedule tribes activists, however, questioned the timing of the move. “The move is to curry favour with the tribals ahead of the election season,” said Hansraj Meena, founder of Tribal Army.  

“The government has not spent over Rs 1,150 crore of the previous year's budget. It is just an announcement, we have to see how much they spend this time,” Meena added.

Schedule tribes activists feel the aim of the budget is to woo adivasi (tribal) voters ahead of the polls. Tribal communities are the BJP’s new focus area in preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, they say.

According to the 2011 census, India has over 104 million tribals (8.6 per cent of its population).

This was the last full budget of the Modi government before nine states—Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura—go to the polls and before the general elections next year.

All these states have large tribal voter bases. Two of them—Chhattisgarh and Tripura—have 20-30 per cent tribal population, while Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, have over 85 per cent.

This is not the first time that the BJP has tried to create inroads into the tribal voter base.

The party's efforts to woo this segment became apparent with the election of Droupadi Murmu (National Democratic Alliance candidate) as President of India. Since then, the BJP has continued its tribal outreach efforts.

In September 2022, the Modi government’s move to add 15 communities, across Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, to the list of scheduled tribes was also aimed towards boosting the BJP’s poll prospects among tribal communities.

The allocation for the National Commission for Scheduled tribes has also been raised by 75 per cent to Rs 21.63 crore. In the revised budget for FY23, the Centre increased the outlay for the commission to Rs 17.90 crore.

The Budget has allocated Rs 15 crore to support the national/state scheduled tribes finance and development corporations. Moreover, the allocation for pre- and post-matric scholarships for SCs and others was also increased by 11 per cent to Rs 6,859 crore.