Union Minister Durgadas Uikey informed Rajya Sabha that PM Narendra Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan (PM-JUGA) to uplift tribal communities in villages with significant Scheduled Tribe populations. The scheme targets Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and tribal-majority gram panchayats. It aims to saturate these villages with government welfare schemes across health, education, livelihood, and infrastructure, converging multiple central programmes under one coordinated tribal development framework.

PM-JUGA (Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan) is a convergence-based tribal development scheme launched in 2024. Its core design principle is scheme saturation — rather than creating parallel delivery silos, PM-JUGA maps all existing central government schemes (PM Awas Yojana, PM Jan Dhan, Jal Jeevan Mission, Ayushman Bharat, etc.) and ensures every eligible tribal household in covered villages actually receives those entitlements.

The scheme covers approximately 63,000 villages across 549 districts in 30 states and union territories where Scheduled Tribes constitute a significant share of the population. Within these, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) — the most marginalised sub-group of STs — receive prioritised coverage.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal implementing ministry. PM-JUGA is distinct from the earlier PM PVTG Development Mission (2023 Budget) which allocated ₹15,000 crore specifically for PVTGs; PM-JUGA is broader in scope and uses convergence rather than fresh allocation as its primary tool.

For UPSC aspirants, PM-JUGA connects to governance questions on tribal welfare delivery, Fifth Schedule areas, and the distinction between welfare saturation and scheme creation. For NABARD aspirants, rural credit penetration and SHG linkages in tribal belts are directly relevant dimensions of this scheme.