Governance
Initiatives for Tribal Communities
- 28 Feb 2020
- 2 min read
Why in News
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched the “Programme for Capacity Building of Scheduled Tribe Representatives in Local Self Governments” along with “1000 Springs Initiatives”.
- An online portal on GIS-based Spring Atlas has also been launched.
Capacity Building Initiative
- It is aimed at empowering tribal Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) representatives by enhancing their decision making capabilities at local government level.
- Apart from tribal development, it also focuses on constitutional and legal provisions that protect and promote the rights and welfare of the tribal population.
1000 Springs Initiative
- The initiative aims at improving access to safe and adequate water for the tribal communities living in difficult and inaccessible parts of rural areas in the country.
- The initiative will help in harnessing the potential of perennial springs’ water to address natural scarcity of water in tribal areas.
- Springs are natural sources of groundwater discharge and have been used extensively in the mountainous regions across the world, including India.
- 60% of the Indian Himalayan region residents depend on springs, though, 50% of the springs in the Indian Himalayan region have already dried up.
- However, in the central and eastern Indian belt with more than 75% tribal population, springs remain largely unrecognized and under-utilized.
- Springs are natural sources of groundwater discharge and have been used extensively in the mountainous regions across the world, including India.
- It includes provision of infrastructure for piped water supply for drinking; provision of water for irrigation; community-led total sanitation initiatives; and provision for water for backyard nutrition gardens, generating sustainable livelihood opportunities for the tribal people.
Online portal on GIS-based Spring Atlas
- It has been developed to make the data about hydrological and chemical properties of the Springs easily accessible from an online platform.
- As of now, data of more than 170 springs have been uploaded on the Spring Atlas.