A Birhor woman and her child. Telegraph picture

Ranchi, Nov. 23: The Arjun Munda government has drawn up an ambitious plan for sustenance and development of primitive tribes in Jharkhand with a Rs 80-crore aid from the Centre.

Welfare department initiatives, which will be launched next month, will comprise comprehensive skill enhancement training, healthcare, education and livelihood programmes for members of these socially backward groups. More than 100 community facility centres — one each for a population of 2,000 — across Jharkhand will facilitate development. Each centre will also have a small clinic for villagers and an anganwadi unit for children.

Welfare department sources said the Centre had sanctioned funds for the project this month. The amount will be spent over the next three financial years for developing infrastructure and forming human capital. “This is an ambitious project for the sustenance and development of primitive tribes. The project aims at helping backward villagers be on a par with mainstream society,” said Praveen Toppo, state tribal welfare commissioner.

There are eight primitive tribes in the state, namely, Birhor, Asur, Birajia, Korwa, Mal Pahariya, Parhiya, Souriya Parhaiya and Sabar. According to the 2001 Census, they number around 200,000 across Jharkhand. Economic and social backwardness does not allow them to live like other tribal groups that are relatively better off. While most primitive tribe members are food gatherers or daily labourers, some own cultivable lands.

The state government has been giving direct recruitment to educated primitive tribe youths. Besides, it also set up schools exclusively for primitive tribe children. To further boost the confidence of the tribal populace, it plans to train youths in livelihood and soft skills.

The welfare department will set up four vocational centres — one each in Ranchi, Dumka, Daltonganj and Jamshedpur — under the new project. Again, the department has selected 22 NGOs, which will form women self-help groups in villages and train them in poultry farming, goat keeping, dairy, honey, bee keeping, bamboo craft, et al. The state also plans to set up solar panels in the tribe villages. Each house will be fitted with two CFLs and streets with as many CFLs as required. The community facility centres, which will be equipped with computers, will educate the tribals on the significance and benefits of solar energy.

The project is further expected to improve drinking water facilities in tribal villages. “Small wells and ponds will be widened and, wherever there is scope of deep-boring, we will do so,” Toppo said.