Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNT Communities (SEED)

Description

Context:

The Department has approved a special scheme namely "Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNT Communities (SEED)" for welfare of this community having following four components:-

To provide coaching of good quality for DNT candidates to enable them to appear in competitive examinations.
To provide Health Insurance to them.
To facilitate livelihood initiative at community level; and
To provide financial assistance for construction of houses for members of these communities.

About Denotified Tribe:

The term 'De-notified Tribes' stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between l87l and I947.
These Acts were repealed by the Independent lndian Government in l952, and these communities were "De-Notified".
A few of these communities which were listed as de-notified were also nomadic.

Status in India

It has been estimated that South Asia has the world’s largest nomadic population. In India, roughly 10 per cent of the population is Denotified and Nomadic.
While the number of Denotified Tribes is about 150, the population of Nomadic Tribes consists of about 500 different communities.
While the Denotified Tribes have almost settled in various States of the country, the Nomadic Communities continue to be largely nomadic in pursuit of their traditional professions.
The Government in July 2014 had constituted National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) for a period of three years to prepare a State-wise list of castes belonging to Denotified and Nomadic Tribes and to suggest appropriate measures in respect of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes that may be undertaken by the Central Government or the State Government.
A Development and Welfare Board for De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities has also been constituted vide gazette Notification dated 21.02.2019 for Development and Welfare of De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities.