Under Adi Karmayogi Yojana just 25 villages covered: Centre data
Panaji: The latest data from the Union Ministry of Tribal Welfare shows Goa as the weakest performer in terms of village coverage in the implementation of the Centre’s Adi Karmayogi Abhiyan.
Out of a total 68,620 villages covered under the flagship tribal welfare initiative nationwide, Goa accounts for just 25 villages — an almost negligible 0.036% share. This places the state at the bottom of the national ranking.
This poor implementation comes despite the state having deployed 148 Adi Saathis and 127 Adi Sahyogis —one of the highest personnel-to-village ratios in the country.
“This suggests a model focused on intensive engagement in a limited number of locations rather than broad-based expansion,” said policy analysts.
The disparity was more pronounced when compared with neighbouring and demographically comparable regions. Maharashtra brought 6,859 villages under the programme, while Karnataka covered 1,085 villages.
Even smaller states such as Sikkim achieved wider outreach, enrolling 90 villages — over three times Goa’s coverage. In contrast, tribal-dominated states such as Madhya Pradesh (14,040 villages) and Odisha (8,371 villages) continued to drive the programme’s national momentum.
Policy analysts said that this skew could stem from multiple factors, including Goa’s relatively smaller tribal population, administrative prioritisation, or possible delays in village identification and onboarding under the scheme.
The movement is designed as a last-mile delivery mechanism to strengthen livelihood opportunities, skill development and institutional support in tribal areas.
With central and eastern tribal heartlands dominating the programme uptake, and smaller coastal or less tribal-intensive states lagging behind, analysts said that a more calibrated, region-specific implementation strategy is neededto tackle this uneven distribution.
