UDAIPUR, 29 January (Udaipur Kiran): The Government of India has accepted a key suggestion made by Udaipur MP Dr Mannalal Rawat in Parliament, under which development plans for each village will now be prepared through Gram Sabhas as part of the Dharti Aaba Janjati Unnat Gram Abhiyan.

Raising the issue through a starred question in the Lok Sabha, Dr Rawat suggested that under the Janjati Unnat Gram Abhiyan, a dedicated Gram Sabha should be organised in every village to prepare a comprehensive development plan for creating “Viksit Janjati Gram”. The proposal was appreciated in the House, with the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Union Tribal Affairs Minister terming it a constructive and effective suggestion.

Responding to the question, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram said the government would work on this suggestion. He informed the House that under the Janjati Unnat Gram Abhiyan, more than 63,000 tribal-dominated villages have been included across the country. In Rajasthan alone, the campaign is being implemented in 6,019 villages across 208 blocks in 30 districts.

The minister stated that the objective of the campaign is to achieve 100 per cent targets related to physical infrastructure and human resource development. He further said that the Prime Minister had launched the Dharti Aaba Janjati Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) on 2 October 2024. The programme includes 25 interventions implemented by 17 line ministries, with the aim of bridging infrastructure and human development gaps in Scheduled Tribe-dominated villages and aspirational districts.

Under this campaign, tribal villages across 549 districts in 30 states and Union Territories, covering 2,911 blocks and a total of 63,843 villages, have been included. The total budget for five years is ₹79,156 crore, of which ₹56,333 crore is the Centre’s share and ₹22,823 crore is the states’ contribution. Each concerned ministry has been assigned specific budgets and targets and is responsible for implementing the allotted interventions.

Based on proposals submitted by the Rajasthan government, works under the campaign have been approved in the districts of Udaipur, Salumber, Dungarpur and Pratapgarh. As per information from the Ministry of Jal Shakti, out of 2,038 villages in these four districts, 1,850 villages have already been saturated with drinking water supply. The Ministry of Rural Development has approved 6,076 houses in Dungarpur, 2,793 in Pratapgarh, 9,092 in Salumber and 2,218 in Udaipur district. The Department of Telecommunications has provided mobile connectivity in 10 villages in Dungarpur, 27 in Pratapgarh and 125 villages in Udaipur district.