Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram briefed the media on Wednesday, about the important decision taken by Cabinet today regarding declaration of Scheduled Areas in Rajasthan under Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India. The Minister informed that the areas comprising of 3 complete districts namely Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh; 9 complete tehsils, 1 complete block and 46 complete gram panchayats covering 227 villages in district Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Pali and Sirohi of Rajasthan, would be included in the Scheduled Areas in the State of Rajasthan.
The Minister further informed that the Scheduled Tribe population covered under the Scheduled Area will thus increase from 4188056 to 4551917, while the total population covered under the Scheduled Areas will become 6463353. Also, the total land area under the Scheduled Areas will increase from 19818.86 sq. km. to 23354.96 sq. km. With this an additional ST population of 3.6 lakhs will be covered under scheduled areas.
This increase will result in several benefits to the people residing in those areas. For direct recruitment in Government Jobs (other than State Services) in the Scheduled Areas of Rajasthan, 45% of seats will be reserved for local ST population. Seats will also be reserved for several vocational graduation/ post-graduation and diploma courses. The area will also be covered by separate service rules/cadre for all Government Services, other than State Service. Posts in the government services will thus remain less vacant in the area, which in turn will help in effective implementation of various schemes and services in the area.
The Minister added that the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) will also become applicable in the area, along with the concomitant powers and benefits. Moreover, the proposed additional area will now receive more funds for infrastructure and socio-economic development.
The major ST communities which will benefit from this addition include ‘Bhil’, ‘Bhil Garasia’, ‘Garasia (excluding Rajput Garasia)’, ‘Mina’ etc.
Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ms. Lina Nair explained that the Tribal Affairs Ministry held several rounds of discussions and interactions with the State Government to arrive at the final declaration of scheduled areas in Rajasthan.
