Relevance: mains: G.S Paper II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States.
TRANSGENDER PERSONS,SCs, STs, OBCs, De-Notified Tribes (DNTs), Nomadic Tribes (NTs) and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (SNTs)
TRANSGENDER PERSONS
Objective
- To ensure a life of dignity, social security and safety for transgender persons, enabling them to actively participate in economic development and the nation building process.
Current Situation
As per Census 2011, India had 4.87 lakh transgender persons. The transgender community is among one of the most marginalized communities in the country. Extreme social exclusion diminishes their self-esteem and is a violation of their human rights. An Expert Committee constituted under the direction of the Honourable Supreme Court recommended several measures to ameliorate their problems. Following that, the “Scheme for Transgender Persons” was launched
Constraints
- Parliament is yet to pass the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2016.
- Accurate identification of transgender persons is a major challenge.
- The implementation of the “Scheme for Transgender Persons” is sub-optimal.
Way Forward
- Provide for identification of transgender persons in all government and non-government records by introducing a separate column to include the third gender.
- Sensitize communities towards the challenges and needs of transgender persons.
- Create a forum for the active participation of transgender persons at all levels of governance.
- Put in place institutional mechanisms to effectively implement programmes for transgender persons.
- Determine the number of transgender persons and map their socio-economic status to design customized policy interventions. This enumeration and mapping can be carried out by the MoSJE along with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
- Mandate the provision of housing and community services to accommodate at least 50 per cent of transgender persons.
- Formulate and implement a scheme for establishing residential schools in all districts for transgender persons.
- Design a scheme for providing skill and employability training to transgender persons to integrate them with mainstream society.
- Launch a centrally sponsored scheme to provide pension to transgender persons above 60 years.
- Ensure Aadhaar and Direct Benefit Transfer based implementation and monitoring of social security programmes.
- Consider creating a fund at the national level for supporting states that have mapped out the needs of and designed the necessary policy interventions for various vulnerable sections of society including persons with disabilities, senior citizens and transgender persons in line with the relevant legislations.
SCs, STs, OBCs, De-Notified Tribes (DNTs), Nomadic Tribes (NTs) and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (SNTs)
Objective
- To accelerate the socio-economic development of SCs, STs, OBCs, safai karamcharis as well as DNTs, NTs and SNTs through focused affirmative action so as to bring them on par with the rest of the population as far as key human development indicators are concerned.
Current Situation
High incidence of poverty and low educational attainment are the two major challenges faced by weaker sections in India. Other challenges include high levels of malnutrition and limited opportunities for meaningful economic engagement.
Among the weaker sections, safari karmacharis constitute one of the most deprived groups. Other groups that require special attention include the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) among the STs as well as performing artists and those engaged in begging among the DNTs, NTs and SNTs.
Research on SCs and STs suggests that historical inequities among the different segments of India’s workforce have diminished over the last three decades. The gaps have narrowed most markedly for the youngest cohorts in the workforce, especially in the domain of education. However, there is still a long way to go before the inequities are bridged completely.
Constraints
- Problems of isolation, exclusion and occupational subjugation are major obstacles to mainstreaming these social groups in the socio-economic development of the country.
- Governance including lack of inter-ministerial convergence and suboptimal targeting of beneficiaries is another major issue.
- Resources are distributed thinly among a large number of schemes, especially under the scheduled caste sub-plan (SCSP) and tribal subplan (TSP), instead of among a few targeted schemes.
- There is limited awareness about the schemes resulting in leakages and denial of benefits.
- Mainstreaming these groups has also been hampered by the inability to incorporate specific cultural and social requirements of SC/ST groups while designing interventions.
Way Forward
- Institutional and programmatic strengthening
- Undertake a baseline survey and target remote and tribal habitations for implementation of various development programmes
- Design schemes that are tailored to and narrowly focus on the challenges and needs of specific communities.
- Institutionalize social audits for assessing the impact of these schemes on the basis of quantifiable benefits to targeted households.
- Establish the National Institute for Tribal Research.
- Earmark funds under all developmental programmes for DNTs, SNTs and NTs.
- Put in place mechanisms to regularly monitor the implementation of legislations like the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
- Set up a permanent commission for NTs, DNTs and SNTs along the lines of the National Commission for SCs and STs.
- Education
- Establish residential schools in uncovered blocks/districts with facilities for vocational training.
- Define and ensure adherence to quality parameters for existing and new residential schools.
- Increase the number of scholarships provided under the pre-matric, post-matric, National Fellowship and National Overseas Scholarship schemes for SCs, STs and OBCs.
- Economic empowerment
- Expand the Stand-Up India scheme to include uncovered social groups like OBCs, DNTs, NTs and SNTs.
- Extend venture capital funds and credit guarantee schemes for covering STs, OBCs, DNTs, NTs and SNTs.
- Cover a larger number of beneficiaries under various finance and development schemes with an annual increase of 10 per cent every year.
- Provide concessional loans for promoting entrepreneurship among OBCs by doubling the number of beneficiaries covered under the National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation by 2022-23.
- Encourage indigenous tribal medicine alongside other systems to create additional livelihood opportunities.
- Establish contact points with potential employers along with pre-job training sessions for youth.
- Miscellaneous
- Ensure universal coverage of DNT, SNT and NT populations for BPL and Aadhaar cards.
- Prepare a Vulnerability Index and Vulnerability Intervention Index for PVTGs based on the methodology suggested by the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad. These indices will be useful for assessing the socio-economic disparities between PVTGs and other social groups and designing policy interventions accordingly.
- Extend habitat rights to PVTGs within the FRA framework, as has been done for the Baiga Tribe of Dindori District, Madhya Pradesh.
- Provide project-based funding under special central assistance (SCA) to SCSP and to TSP, especially in gram panchayats/blocks where the population of SCs/STs is more than 25 per cent.
- Prioritize vulnerable groups like tribal children under the National Nutrition Mission through tag-tracking and additional home visits for underweight children conducted by frontline workers.
- Empower marginalized communities by promoting community-owned radio stations.
- Promote habitations along the lines of Samasthapuram in Tamil Nadu where people belonging to all communities live together.