The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has reportedly held up grants for hostels of ST students and other residential schools and for dispensaries run by voluntary organisations (VOs) all over the country. According to sources, the Ministry has instead decided to sanction such grants to 14 national-level organisations only. The Ministry has spent all grants for NGOs in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan for the year 2013-14.
Out of GIA of Rs230 crore released, Gujarat got Rs62.31 crore, Madhya Pradesh Rs39.56 crore, Chhattisgarh Rs23.12 crore. Maharashtra Rs21.03 crore and Rajasthan Rs15.83 crore and the rest amount went to other States. According to the Tribal Affairs Minister’s Private Secretary Suresh Chandra Vasista, the Ministry has stopped the GIA even for ongoing programmes due to crunch of funds. The Minister has directed to release grants only to specific VOs. He said the Government may not consider giving GIA in the next year. With this decision, VOs working in Odisha are going to suffer a lot.