New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS): The Finance Minister on Friday announced the forming of a commission to identify de-notified, nomadic and semi-nomadic communities for their welfare and devising "development programmes" for them.

Addressing the Lok Sabha while presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20, Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal acknowledged the "commendable work" done by the Renke and Idate commissions, formed earlier for identifying these communities.

"A committee under NITI Aayog will be set up to complete the task of identifying de-notified, nomadic and semi-nomadic communities not yet formally classified.

"Our government will also set up a Welfare Development Board under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment specifically for the purpose of implementing welfare and development programmes," Goyal said in his speech.

The Minister said that his government's aim was to reach the "most deprived citizens of this country" while referring to these communities.

"These communities are hard to reach, less visible, and therefore, frequently left out," he added.

Praising his government's work for the development of women, he mentioned the "success" of Ujjwala Yojana, under which, he said, eight crore free gas connections were given to people, benefiting mostly women in the rural areas.

He added that 70 per cent of all beneficiaries of his government's Mudra Loan Yojana -- under which the government offered affordable and collateral-free loans-- were women.