NEW DELHI, October 16 — The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on Friday launched the centralized, geospatial tracking portal for the Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY), streamlining project sanctions and fund monitoring across thousands of Scheduled Caste (SC) majority villages.
PM-AJAY represents the strategic convergence of three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes: the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY), Special Central Assistance to the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCA to SCSP), and the Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana. The umbrella framework aims to eradicate socioeconomic gaps in habitations with over 50 percent SC population by funding critical village infrastructure, self-help entrepreneurship grants up to ₹50,000 per beneficiary, and modern residential hostels.
Ministry officials noted that the newly operational digital portal mandates the geotagging of physical assets, automated tracking of Village Development Plans (VDPs), and real-time public disclosure of the ₹2,050-crore annual scheme allocations across participating state directorates.
The constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Castes under Articles 15, 17 (abolition of untouchability), 46 (Directive Principles), and Article 338 (National Commission for Scheduled Castes - NCSC), alongside targeted budgetary mechanisms like the SC Sub-Plan (SCSP), represent core themes in UPSC Civil Services (GS-II: Vulnerable Sections & Social Governance) and State PSC exams.