BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday said the state government is fully committed to the all-round development of scheduled tribe population who have been neglected in the seven decade-long rule of both BJD and Congress.
Addressing a function organised by the BJP ST Morcha to felicitate newly-elected tribal legislators of the party here, the chief minister said the emphatic victory of the BJP was possible due to the unwavering faith and support of the tribal communities. “Eighteen out of 33 seats and four out of five seats reserved for scheduled tribes in the Assembly and Lok Sabha in the state voted for the BJP in the recent elections. We must strive to win all the seats in the next general elections and it will be possible if we win the confidence of the tribal population of the state,” Majhi said.
Expressing his gratitude to the workers of BJP ST Morcha for their significant contribution to the victory of the party, the chief minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mainstreaming the tribals and backward communities by giving them leadership positions in the democratic set up. “The prime minister has walked the talk of Sab Ka Saath, Sabka Vikas,” he said.
“It is under the leadership of the prime minister that the country has witnessed a rapid transformation of the tribal communities across the country. The Centre has been liberally funding tribal development with special attention to 13 primitive tribal groups in Odisha. What the Congress and BJD could not do in 75 years, Modi has made it possible in the last 10 years,” he stated.
Majhi said his government has launched Madho Singh Haath Kharcha Yojana under which every student of a tribal school will be given Rs 5,000 per annum. The objective is to check the dropout rate, he said.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram said, “The Mohan Majhi government will be completely different from the BJD where Officer Raj was writ large.”
School and Mass Education Minister and president of state BJP ST Morcha Nityananda Gond said the party has always given importance to Adivasis as a result of which a tribal woman is the President of India while another leader of the community is the chief minister.