Tribal Youth and Inclusive Nation-Building- An Assessment of National Inistiatives

Abstract

This paper reviews tribal youth empowerment in India, finding that government and NGO initiatives like EMRS and Skill India have increased access to education and skills but often fall short due to systemic issues like cultural alienation, poor infrastructure, and weak implementation. The paper calls for a shift towards culturally responsive, community-led, and technology-enabled approaches that empower tribal youth as active agents of their own development and country-building, moving beyond a "welfare recipient" model. Critique of current initiatives. Despite policy attention and demographic strength, tribal youth remain marginalized in key sectors like education, employment, and skill development.Initiatives like Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) and the Skill India Mission have expanded access and promoted employability, but their transformative potential is limited by persistent challenges. Key barriers include cultural alienation, inadequate infrastructure, and policy implementation bottlenecks. Specific challenges highlighted are socio-economic deprivation, identity crises, and digital exclusion. The paper explores the impact of various programs across different sectors: education, vocational training, agripreneurship, and psychosocial development.