Govt to give health insurance cover to marginalised tribal communities

The central government will soon provide health insurance cover to De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic tribal communities under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said on Wednesday. This health insurance programme will come under the ministry's Scheme for Economic Empowerment of De-notified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes (SEED).
 

The primary objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to National Health Authority (NHA) in association with State Health Agencies (SHAs) for providing a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakhs per family per year to DNT, NT and SNT families as per norms of AB-PMJAY.  

 
“Approximately, 4,44,500 families will be covered under health insurance in five years. The total funds spend in the five years will be Rs.49 crore,” the ministry said in a statement. According to the government, the De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes are the most neglected, marginalised and economically and socially deprived communities. Most of them have been living a life of destitution for generations and still continue to do so with an uncertain and gloomy future. “De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes somehow escaped the attention of our developmental framework and thus are deprived of the support unlike Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,” the ministry added.
 

Historically, these communities never had access to private land or home ownership. These tribes used forests and grazing lands for their livelihood and residential use and had "strong ecological connections. Many of them are dependent upon various types of natural resources and carve out intricate ecological niches for their survival. The changes in ecology and environment seriously affect their livelihood options," the ministry statement noted.

Under the scheme, there will be four components with an approximate cost of Rs 200 crore to be spent over a period of 5 years starting Financial Year 2021-22 to 2025-26. The government will also provide education and livelihood opportunities along with housing and financial assistance.

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment took a decision in February, 2014 to constitute a National Commission for De-Notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes for a period of three years. This National Commission was constituted under the chairmanship of Bhiku Ramji Idate. This commission gave its report in December, 2017, which contained the draft lists of DNT/NT/SNT communities.  

Based on the National Commission’s recommendations, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has constituted the Development and Welfare Board for De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNCs) in 2019. The Board has been mandated to formulate and implement welfare and development programmes for these communities. A Scheme for empowerment of DNT communities have been formulated for families having income from all sources of Rs.2.50 lakh or less per annum and not availing any such benefits from similar Scheme of Centre Government or the State Government.  

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