(Jual Oram Minister of Tribal Affairs)

Jual Oram is the Minister of Tribal Affairs. He assumed office on 26th May 2014 under Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi.

Jual Oram was born on 22nd March 1961 in Sundargarh, Odisha, India. Jual Oram belongs to the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). Mr Jual Oram was also the first person to be appointed as the Minister of Tribal Affairs in 1999 under Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was in office from 13th October 1999 to 22nd May 2004. A member of the 16th Lok Sabha, Mr Oram represents the Sundargarh constituency of Odisha. He also represented the same constituency from 10th March 1998 to 18th May 2009.  

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is a portfolio under the Government of India. The responsibility of the ministry is to look after the affairs of the tribal communities in India. The Ministry came into existence in 1999 with the headquarters at Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi. Before the Ministry was formed it was handled as a Tribal Division (a division of the Ministry of Home Affairs) until September 1985 after independence. From September 1985 to May 1998 the tribal affairs were handled by the Ministry of Welfare and from May 1998 to September 1999 the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment handled the affairs. After September 1999 an independent ministry was set up. The ministry is responsible for planning and framing of policies and schemes for the development of Scheduled Tribes. The functions of the ministry also include research and training for the tribal community. Development of the tribal’s by rolling out scholarships to the Scheduled Tribes. Looking after the administrative decisions with respect to the matters related to Scheduled Areas. The National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC), the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) and the Tribal Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (TRIFED) are the organizations that come under the direct control of the ministry.