Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is a Government of India ministry responsible for overall policy, planning, and coordination of programmes for the development of Scheduled Tribes. The ministry was set up in 1999 by bifurcating the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to provide focused attention on the welfare of tribal communities. The ministry administers flagship educational programmes including the Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe Students, Pre-Matric Scholarship for ST Students, National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students, and the National Overseas Scholarship Scheme. These schemes have supported over 1.5 million ST beneficiaries across 30 states and union territories. The ministry operates the DBT Tribal portal at dbttribal.gov.in for online application processing and Direct Benefit Transfer of scholarship funds to eligible beneficiaries. Programmes are implemented in coordination with State Tribal Welfare Departments.