GUWAHATI: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Sunday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for various development projects worth over Rs 668 crore in Dhalai, Tripura.
He interacted with people from the Bru (Reang) community at the Haduklau Para Bru Settlement Colony in Dhalai and also visited their homes.
Addressing a gathering, he said the Centre had facilitated the settlement of 38,000 displaced Brus under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said for nearly 25 years, these people had been living in extremely difficult conditions with no access to basic facilities like water, toilets, electricity, education, employment, and healthcare. He said the PM addressed their sufferings.
Shah said the Bru agreement helped resettle the people, adding provisions were made for their employment and cooperatives for the women besides access to basic amenities. He said many schemes were taken up during the tenure of the previous government but they never materialized on the ground.
According to him, Modi not only made a plan for the displaced Brus but also resettled them in 11 villages at a cost of Rs 900 crore.
These villages now have electricity, roads, drinking water, connectivity, solar street lights, subsidized grain shops, anganwadi schools and health centres, the home minister said.
“Modi Ji has ensured that the people living in these 11 colonies are provided with all the rights, just like any other citizens of the country,” he said, adding they have been included in the voter list and the Centre also provided them with ration cards and health cards to ensure their employment.
Additionally, he said, the Centre is providing them with monthly assistance of Rs 5,000 for 24 months. These Brus had fled to Tripura from Mizoram in 1997 in the wake of an ethnic conflict.
“During the tenure of the previous government, only 2.5 per cent of people had access to drinking water, whereas today 85 per cent of households have tap water. Earlier, no poor person received free ration, but today, under Modi Ji’s leadership, 82 per cent of the people in Tripura receive 5 kg of rice for free,” Shah further stated.