Ranchi (TIP)- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Rs 24,000 crore mission aimed at benefiting 2.8 million people from particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) across 220 districts, marking a mega push by the government to reach out to India’s tribal communities just months ahead of general elections.
Launching the mission in Jharkhand’s Khunti district on the birth anniversary of tribal icon and freedom fighter Birsa Munda, Modi also underlined his government’s commitment to the development of the poor and marginalised communities, and explained what secularism meant to his administration.
“Modi has made the deprived his priority… I have come to this land of Bhagwan Birsa Munda to repay the debt that I owe to the deprived,” he said. “I assure the women, young and the poor that it is a guarantee that Modi’s guarantee would be delivered. Social justice is now a generic term. Modi is now looking at adivasi nyay (justice for tribals).”
He also inaugurated and laid the foundation of projects worth Rs 7,200 crore, including those to widen the 52-km stretch of the Mahagama-Hansdiha section of National Highway-133 and the 45-km stretch of Basukinath-Deoghar section of National Highway-114A; the KDH-Purnadih coal handling plant; and a new academic and administrative building of the Indian Institute of Information Technology-Ranchi.
“True secularism comes only when all possibilities of discrimination against any citizen of the country are eliminated,” Modi said, adding that social justice was ensured only when the benefits of government schemes reach everyone in the same measure. This is the spirit behind the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra which he flagged off on Wednesday. “In this journey, the government will go to every village of the country in mission mode and will make every poor and deprived person a beneficiary of government schemes,” Modi added.
Officials said that under the PVTG mission, basic facilities such as road and telecom connectivity, electricity, safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition and sustainable livelihood opportunities will be provided to PVTG habitations, which are mostly remote, scattered and inaccessible.
“Today we are launching the PM Jan Man (PM PVTG) mission to reach out the last person standing among the most primitive of tribes. We have identified 75 PVTGs across over 22,000 villages who are in lakhs. We will provide them everything required for their mainstreaming and pasting them fruits of development,” Modi said.
Tribal communities form 8.6% of the country, according to the 2011 census. They hold sway in a number of states across broad swathes of central and eastern India, and the North-East, and 47 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats are reserved for the communities. The PM’s announcement mark an outreach by the BJP to these communities in a manner similar to the party’s efforts to attract Dalits into its fold ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Tribal communities also form a key demographic in the ongoing elections in five states — especially in the heartland provinces of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where 29 and 45 assembly seats are reserved for the community.
Earlier in the day, Modi visited Birsa Munda’s birthplace Ulihatu and paid floral tributes to him on his birth anniversary, which is celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas since 2021. Modi, the first PM to visit Ulihatu, was accorded a warm welcome with local residents dancing to the tunes of traditional instruments. He was accompanied by chief minister Hemant Soren, governor CP Radhakrishnan and Union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda.
“It was during the Vajpayee government that a separate ministry (for tribal welfare) was put in place. Today, the budget for that department has increased sixfold,” said Modi.
He released ?18,000 crore as part of the 15th instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) and hailed the administrative record of his government.