Govt work real tribute to tribal icons: BJP chief Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: Blaming previous governments for paying mere lip service to the tribals, BJP president Amit Shah has said that the Modi government has taken concrete steps aimed at bringing about all-round development of the community and give them a rightful share in good governance.

In a blog, Shah said the BJP government started a welfare scheme for tribals-Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojna— soon after coming to power in 2014.

A year later, the government amended the Mines and Minerals Act to establish district mineral foundation to ensure that 10% of royalty on the income made from minerals is spent on developing these places.

Over Rs 9,100 crore have been deposited in DMF, he said adding the money will be spent on local area development.

Shah also referred to decision of the BJP governments in Gujarat — the state goes to polls later this year— to earmark 14.75% of the budget for development of 14 tribal-dominated districts.

"It is due to the efforts of the BJP government that Gujarat's tribal areas are not behind other regions in any parameter of development," Shah said. "Tribals, like the rest of the country, got self-rule in 1947 when the British left, but the time has come for them now to attain self-rule in the true sense and the Modi government and BJP are fully committed in this direction," he said, emphasising that it was the BJP government led by A B Vajpayee which set up a separate ministry of tribals at the Centre.

Referring to his recent visit to the the village of legendary tribal leader and freedom fighter Birsa Munda in BJP-ruled Jharkhand, Shah said the state government there has taken steps for all-round development of villages of the tribal leaders who led resistance to the colonial rule.

"Instead of merely offering floral tributes (pushpanjali) to iconic tribal leaders as in the past, the Jharkhand government is commemorating their life through work (karyanjali)" Shah said.

"Tribals had been left behind in development as they lived in remote areas and also due to apathy of earlier governments which exploited the mines and minerals, but the regions remained deprived of development work," he said.

He said tribals and Dalits, who had a significant contribution to the freedom movement, never got their due recognition from historians.

"It is no exaggeration that tribals have played a vital role in conservation of our culture as they still adhere to the customs," Shah said.