Gandhinagar: To improve delivery of welfare schemes to tribal communities outside Gujarat’s traditional tribal belt, the state govt has appointed Class I officers of the tribal development department as member secretaries of district-level committees in four non-tribal districts: Ahmedabad, Surendranagar, Gir-Somnath and Junagadh.
Because dedicated tribal development mechanisms, including project administrator offices, are already functioning in Gujarat’s traditional tribal districts under the Tribal Sub-Plan, officials said the arrangement was introduced specifically in the four districts. Govt stated that the new division of responsibilities would establish a link between policy-level decision-making and last-mile implementation.
Earlier, respective district development officers were given additional responsibility for tribal development schemes. Govt said on Sunday the arrangement was less focused as district panchayat officials already had multiple administrative responsibilities.
This is expected to create a clearer chain of accountability and speed up decision-making. Class II officers will handle local planning, technical processes, post-completion inspections and obtaining completion and utilisation certificates.