New Delhi
President Droupadi Murmu has lavished rich praise on the Modi Government for its extensive tribal-centric work and asserted that India will become truly developed only when “our tribal people also become developed”.
Conveying her message on the eve of ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’, she said that the present government is taking forward the journey of tribal development and welfare at a fast pace and listed the many campaigns and programs being implemented on a large scale.
“Since the year 2021, the Government of India has started the tradition of celebrating ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ every year on 15th November on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. No praise is too high for this decision to express respect for the tribal communities. Many steps are being taken to make the people aware of the glorious contribution of the tribal communities. Museums are being built in various parts of the country in memory of tribal heroes. The museum of Bhagwan Birsa Munda in Ranchi has become a site of pilgrimage. A museum named ‘Janjatiya Darpan’ has also been developed in Rashtrapati Bhavan,” the President said.
From today, the year-long celebrations for the 150th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda begins, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the main event in Jamui in Bihar.
President Murmu recalled that two years ago she had the privilege of visiting Bhagwan Birsa Munda’s village Ulihatu in Jharkhand and offering floral tribute to his statue while last year, on the occasion of ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’, PM Modi visited Ulihatu and sought the blessings of the tribal legend. That was the first visit of any Prime Minister to Ulihatu, she pointed out adding this made the people of the tribal society very happy. On the same day, ‘PM Janjati Adivasi Nyay Maha-Abhiyan’ i.e. PM-JANMAN was launched from Jharkhand, she said.
The President highlighted the valour and sacrifices of many tribal heroes. “Since the 18th century, the tribal society had waged organised revolt against the injustices of the British rule. Along with the brave brothers Sidhu-Kanhu and Chand-Bhairav who led the Santhal-Hool in the year 1855, the brave sisters Phulo-Jhano also showed extraordinary courage. When I was the Governor of Jharkhand, I had the privilege of visiting the village, Uri-Mari and unveiling the statue of the great heroes, Sidhu-Kanhu.
“I grew up listening to the stories of many tribal heroes, from Tilka Manjhi and Bhagwan Birsa Munda to Laxman Nayak. But, people in general did not know much about those great heroes. Due to the efforts of the government, people have now become well acquainted with the stories of tribal freedom fighters,” she said lauding the Modi dispensation.
She also pointed out how the eternal life values of our society are visible in the story of Ramayana. “During his long exile, Prabhu Shri Ram lived with the people of the tribal society like one of them. Prabhu Shri Ram adopted the forest dwellers and the forest dwellers adopted Prabhu Shri Ram. This spirit of affinity and harmony, found in the tribal society, is the basis of our culture and civilization,” she said.
I am happy to share that I also contributed to the efforts to include the tribal language ‘Santhali’ in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, she said adding this was made possible during the tenure of respected Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji.
She lamented that even after several decades of independence, most of the people of the tribal communities led their lives with a lot of difficulties due to lack of their own houses, basic facilities like electricity, water and roads besides healthcare and remained away from the mainstream of development.
“But now these facilities are being provided to them. Their standard of living has improved. Along with this, opportunities for economic development are also increasing for them. Special measures have been taken to provide all facilities to the tribal people in all national programmes of development and welfare. Apart from this, special schemes are being implemented for the benefit of the tribal communities,” the President said.
While she mentioned about her regular interactions with PVTG groups and “tribal sisters”, she expressed happiness that “a large number of our tribal sisters are achieving economic self-reliance through self-help groups and other means of growth”. It is being ensured that the benefits of major national schemes reach all tribal beneficiaries in a timely manner, she said.
She listed out the highlights of the PM-JANMAN Abhiyan and the ‘Dharti Aba Janjati Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan’ launched by PM Modi, spoke about the 700 Eklavya Model Residential Schools being built besides the Sickle Cell Anemia Elimination Mission, and the 74 pc increase in annual budget of Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the year 2024-25 at Rs 13,000 crore.
“Talented people among the tribal communities are also getting greater recognition. About 100 people from the tribal communities have been honoured with Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards during the last 10 years. Governors and Chief Ministers of many states, ministers in central and state governments and many people holding high positions are from the tribal communities,” she said.
The immense love that I get from all the fellow citizens, including the people of the tribal communities, makes me emotional at times, she said adding behind this feeling of mine is also the pleasant truth that today, sky is the limit for the development of the people belonging to the tribal communities. “No matter how high they aspire to fly, the society and the government are fully committed to supporting them”.
