Odisha Cabinet Approves LABHA Scheme For Tribals, Withdraws Decision On Tribal Land Transfer

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Cabinet approved 5 proposals of 2 departments at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday.

Briefing the press after the Cabinet meeting, Ministers Sudam Marndi and Jagannath Saraka, Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena and Principal Secretary, ST& SC Development department Roopa Roshan Sahu said the decisions will lead to empowerment of about one crore tribal people in the state.

One of the decisions is the government’s announcement of a new scheme for development of the tribals, Laghu Bana Jatiya Drabya Kraya (LABHA).

Odisha has 33% forest cover endowed with diverse MFP such as, Sal seeds, Tamarind, hill broom, Terminalia Chebula (HARIDA), Terminalia Billerica (BAHADA), Mahula seeds, honey and others. Over the years the indigineous tribal communities have been depending on the MFP for their livelihood. They are the primary collectors of MFP, which also finds way into their diet and nutrition as well as supplementary income. MFP is not a food security source but a core component of their identity and culture. The women in tribal communities collect and do primary processing of the MFPs.

Earlier, the state and Central governments had a scheme for procurement of MFP, but in the last 10 years no fund has been released beyond the initial Revolving Fund. While the state government has been provisioning grants towards compensation for TDCCOL, it is felt that with the increase in production, timely procurement, timely release of remuneration as well as processing of MFP is the need of the hour. Hence, the government has approved LABHA scheme.

In the last year, record MFP procurement worth Rs 76 crore was done. With LABHA, the procurement will be fair, transparent and timely. It will benefit more than 30,000 primary collectors 1,000 SHGs (women) in 119 blocks of 14 predominantly tribal districts.

Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Raygada, Koraput, Malkangir, Nabrangpur, Kandhamal, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Gajapti, Sambalpur, Deogarh and Balangir will be covered in the first phase.

Under LABHA Yojana, the government will ensure 100% state-funded minimum support price (MSP) for minor forest produce (MFP). Its main features are the following:

• The Minimum support Price will be determined every year by the government.
• A primary collector can sell the MFP at MSP collected at the procurement centres by TDCCOL
• Since 99% of primary collectors are tribals and majority of them are women, LABHA will integrate the efforts with the Mission Shakti’s Women SHGs.
• These procurement centres will be managed by SHGs and other notified agencies assisted by TDCCOL.
• Upon collection the amount will be transferred as DBT to the beneficiary account and the SHG/any other agency will receive the commission of 2%.
• For further sale, TDCCOL will do e-tendering and explore value addition and processing units.
• The government will set up a Rs 25 crore tamarind processing plant in Rayagada under the scheme.

The Cabinet also approved establishment of Commission for Preservation and Promotion of Tribal Languages of Scheduled Tribes of Odisha.

The Commission aims at preserving and promoting 21 tribal languages in Odisha. It will encourage multilingual education, documenting and preserving tribal languages, promoting the use of those languages, protecting linguistic rights among several enriching activities for the development of the tribal languages.

The Scheduled Tribe (ST) population of Odisha constitutes 22.85% of the state’s total population, with 62 STs, including 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Among these communities, there are 21 tribal languages and 74 dialects. In the education system under the Multilingual Education (MLE) programme, all 21 recognised tribal languages are included. Santali is the only language included in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

The state government has recommended for inclusion of Ho, Saora and Kui languages in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. Seven Scheduled Tribes have developed scripts for their languages. Those are OLCHIKI (Santali), Warrang Chiti (Ho, Kolha), Mundari Bani (Mundari, Munda), Kui lipi (Kui Kondh), Sorang Sompeng (Saora), Ol-Onal (Bhumij), and Kurux tod (Oraon). Other ST communities are also making efforts to develop their scripts and are requesting the inclusion of their Tribal languages in the 8^th Schedule of the Constitution.

The Commission will consist of the following members:

1. The Chairperson will be appointed by the government from among persons who have made significant contributions to tribal language preservation and promotion.
2. The Secretary, Scheduled Tribes & Scheduled Castes Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare, will be the vice-chairperson.
3. Member Convenor: Director, ST shall be the Member Convenor of the Commission.
4. The Member Secretary, Academy of Tribal Languages & Culture, shall be the ex-Officio member of the Commission.
5. Expert Members: Five domain experts with extensive experience in the field of Tribal Languages & Culture shall be nominated by the Government of Odisha as Expert Members of the Commission.
6. Scheduled Tribe Members: A certain number of other members from the major tribal language populations, not exceeding 24, shall be nominated by the Government out of which which 33% of the members shall be women.

The Commission will add following benefits for ST population:

• Preservation, promotion, development, dissemination, and safeguarding of the Tribal Languages of Odisha
• Encourage multilingual education: Children should be taught their mother tongue apart from other languages at the school level to preserve the indigenous languages and promote multilingualism.
• Documenting and preserving languages: The government can set up a database to document and preserve endangered tribal languages.
• Promote the use of regional languages: The government can promote the use of indigenous languages in official communication. This will help to protect the linguistic
• Language policies: The government can implement language policies that promote the use of indigenous languages in various domains, such as government offices, media, and the entertainment industry.
• Protect linguistic rights: Ensure that all indigenous languages are respected and protected under the law and that minority language speakers have equal access to education, government services, and employment opportunities.

The Commission will have the powers of a Cabinet Minister while performing its functions. It will perform the following functions:

1. 1. Evaluate the progress of the initiatives taken by the State Government for the protection, preservation, propagation, promotion, and dissemination of Tribal Languages of Odisha.
   2. Monitor the working and safeguards provided to the tribes for the development and use of languages in the educational, socio-cultural, and developmental sectors.
   3. Make recommendations for the effective enforcement and implementation of safeguards for the protection of languages of STs.
   4. Investigate specific complaints regarding the deprivation of educational, socio-cultural, and language rights in tribal languages and take up such matters with the appropriate forum.
   5. Recommend to the State Government to take necessary steps to accord necessary status to different tribal languages/dialects.
   6. Undertake case studies on problems arising out of any discrimination against any tribal languages/dialects and recommend measures for their redressal.
   7. Conduct studies, research, and analysis on issues related to educational and socio-cultural intervention in tribal languages/dialects.
   8. Conduct surveys in tribal languages and dialects used among the Schedules Tribes of Odisha and make suggestions for the up gradation and standardization of tribal languages.
   9. Make an annual report to the State Government on any matter related to the functions of the Commission.

The advice of the Commission and especially its findings concerning the deprivation of any rights of the Scheduled Tribe population related to promoting tribal languages will be binding upon the state government.

The Cabinet also decided to withdraw the decision taken by it at the meeting on November 14, 2023 to amend the Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956.

The Cabinet passed a resolution for inclusion of 169 communities in the ST list of Odisha.