Initiatives for Tribal Communities | 28 Feb 2020

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.
• 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.

Source: PIB