More than half of Odisha’s PVTG population missed out on welfare schemes, CAG finds

More than half of the population belonging to Odisha’s Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) have not received the benefits of government welfare schemes, according to a recent audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

The audit, conducted between July 2024 and January 2025, found that by March 2024 around 160,000 people or 54 per cent of the state’s PVTG population had remained outside the reach of targeted programmes for several years.

The report estimated Odisha’s total PVTG population at 294,000, spread across 1,679 villages and settlements. Of these, only 134,000 people were covered under the Odisha PVTG Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement Programme (OPELIP), while the rest, largely living in 1,138 newly identified villages, were not included.

Gaps in implementation

PVTGs are among India’s most marginalised communities. The Government of India identified 75 such groups during the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1974-79) for focused development interventions, of which 13 are in Odisha.

To support these communities, the Odisha government set up 20 Micro Project Agencies (MPA) across 14 districts between 1976-77 and 2020-21. In 2016-17, it launched OPELIP as an umbrella programme to deliver both central and state welfare schemes to PVTGs, with an implementation period of eight years ending in 2024.

However, the audit found what it described as a lack of urgency by the state’s ST & SC Development, Minority and Backward Classes Welfare Department and its field units in extending schemes to newly identified villages.

As a result, 160,000 people remained excluded from welfare coverage, despite the expansion of identified habitations in June 2020.

Agencies not operational

The report highlighted that three new MPAs created in June 2020 to extend coverage were still not operational as of January 2025.

It said these agencies had neither been allocated staff nor funding, significantly affecting their ability to reach vulnerable communities.

The consequences were evident in specific cases. The Birhor community, recognised as a PVTG in 1986-87, was brought under a newly created agency in Sukinda in 2020-21. But as this MPA had not been made functional, all 341 members of the community, living in 87 households, remained without access to benefits.

The audit also flagged financial management concerns, noting that Rs 20.20 crore allocated to the programme’s management unit remained unspent for more than three years, with no clear plan for its utilisation.

In addition, several MPAs were found to lack basic data on the availability of essential services in the villages under their jurisdiction. In some cases, agencies could not provide any information on amenities for thousands of PVTG families, even years after these areas had been officially identified.

Concerns over child marriage scheme

The CAG report also raised concerns about the implementation of a scheme aimed at discouraging child marriage.

Launched in December 2020, the Late Marriage Incentive Programme under OPELIP provides financial support of between Rs 2,000 and Rs 20,000 to girls who marry after the age of 18. The payments are intended to be made publicly to encourage wider behavioural change.

Between 2019 and 2024, funds amounting to Rs 153.26 lakh were earmarked to support 1,161 beneficiaries. However, only Rs 95.24 lakh was spent, reaching 677 girls or around 58 per cent of the target.

The audit noted that the programme covered just 43 per cent of villages during this period, pointing to gaps in monitoring and beneficiary identification.

It concluded that the scheme had not been implemented in its “true spirit”, limiting its effectiveness in addressing early marriage among vulnerable communities.