The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, a branch of Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

, looks after the affairs of the tribal communities in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. As of May 2008, the ministry is headed by Kantilal Bhuria

Kantilal Bhuria

Kantilal Bhuria is a member of the Indian National Congress and was till July 2011 the Minister of Tribal Affairs of the Republic of India. He had been promoted to the rank of cabinet minister in the United Progressive Alliance-2 government, led by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009...

, a Union Cabinet Minister. The Sonia Gandhi led NAC has currently pulled up the tribal affairs ministry, the nodal agency for forest rights law, to exercise its power under the Act and issue the instructions to all states, in the form of operational guidelines to plug the loopholes.

History

The ministry was setup in 1999 after the bifurcation of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (India)

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (India)

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is an Indian government ministry. It is responsible for welfare, social justice, and empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society, including scheduled castes and scheduled tribes , Other Backward Classes , the disabled, and the...

 to have a more focused approach on the integrated socioeconomic development of the Scheduled Tribes (STs), the most underprivileged of the Indian Society. Before the formation of the ministry the tribal Affairs was being handled by different ministries which were:

1. As a Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs known as Tribal Division since after independence up to September 1985.
2. Ministry of Welfare: From September 1985 to May 1998.
3. Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment from May 1998 to September 1999.

Functions of the Ministry

1. Tribal Welfare-Planning, Policy formulation, Research and Training
2. Tribal development including scholarships to STs
3. Promotion of voluntary efforts in development of STs
4. Administrative Ministry with respect to matters concerning Scheduled Areas

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the Nodal Ministry for overall policy, planning and coordination of programmes of development for Scheduled Tribes.