A CAG audit found that 54% of Odisha's Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups — 160,000 people — have received zero welfare benefits despite being the explicit target of dedicated welfare programs. Three new agencies created in 2020 to serve them remain unstaffed and unfunded five years later. The Birhor tribe (341 members) got nothing despite having an entire agency created for them.
The Comptroller and Auditor General's April 2026 report on Odisha's welfare programs for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups reads like a masterclass in institutional ghosting. Of the state's 294,000 PVTG population, 160,000 — a clean 54% — have been left entirely outside the reach of programs designed specifically for them. Three new Micro Project Agencies were created in June 2020 to serve 1,138 newly identified tribal villages. Five years later, they have no staff, no funding, and no operations. The Birhor tribe — all 341 members across 87 households, officially recognized since 1986 — received exactly zero benefits despite having an agency created for them in 2020-21. Meanwhile, 55% of drinking water projects and 58% of irrigation projects built for these communities are defunct. Rs 20.20 crore allocated for their development sat unspent for three years with, as the CAG delicately put it, no clear plan for its utilisation. The department's approach was described as apathetic — which, given the evidence, might be generous.