Congress sees tribal as vote bank, has done nothing for them, says Home Minister Amit Shah

  Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said no party has done as much the BJP has done for tribal welfare.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the launch of Ujjwala Yojana 2.0 in Jabalpur. (Photo | PTi)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the launch of Ujjwala Yojana 2.0 in Jabalpur. (Photo | PTi)

BHOPAL:  Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said no party has done as much the BJP has done for tribal welfare. Addressing Guarav Utsav (part of the ongoing Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsava celebrations) in Jabalpur’s Garrison Ground to commemorate the 163rd anniversary of Gondwana king Raja Shankar Shah and his son Kunwar Raghunath Shah’s martyrdom in the first war of India’s independence, Shah said, “Congress has only talked about tribal welfare to get tribal votes, but has done nothing for their well-being. But, the BJP is committed and is working religiously for tribal welfare at the Centre and in the states, where it is in power. The tribals should not let those people succeed who are trying to divide them for political gains.”

He listed a series of measures for tribal welfare taken by the Narendra Modi government, including raising allocation for tribal communities in the Union budget from `4,200 crore 2013-14 to Rs 7,900 crore in 2021-22 and raising budget component for tribal development in various ministries from `21,500 crore in 2013-14 to `78,900 crore in 2021-22.

“The Modi government has also set up 18 Tribal Research Institutes in its first-term and increased them to 27 in the second term,” Shah said. Lamenting that the contributions of tribal icons/heroes in India’s freedom struggle is not being highlighted by historians, Shah said, “We firmly believe that the tribal heroes have contributed much more than others in the country’s freedom struggle right from 1780 to 1947, but still remained largely unsung.”

“This is where ongoing Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsava holds significance, as it is aimed at reviving and preserving memories of tribal leaders and other unsung heroes of the country’s war for freedom. No one can think of forgetting the contributions of our freedom heroes, but the historians have forgotten contributions of our tribal heroes of the country’s freedom struggle,” he said. 

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