Modi unveils ₹24k-cr tribal welfare plan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a ₹24,000 crore mission aimed at benefiting 2.8 million people from particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) across 220 districts, marking a mega push by the government to reach out to India’s tribal communities just months ahead of general elections.

Launching the mission in Jharkhand’s Khunti district on the birth anniversary of tribal icon and freedom fighter Birsa Munda, Modi also underlined his government’s commitment to the development of the poor and marginalised communities, and explained what secularism meant to his administration.

“Modi has made the deprived his priority… I have come to this land of Bhagwan Birsa Munda to repay the debt that I owe to the deprived,” he said. “I assure the women, young and the poor that it is a guarantee that Modi’s guarantee would be delivered. Social justice is now a generic term. Modi is now looking at Adivasi nyay (justice for tribals).”

He also inaugurated and laid the foundation of projects worth ₹7,200 crore, including those to widen the 52-km stretch of the Mahagama-Hansdiha section of National Highway-133 and the 45-km stretch of Basukinath-Deoghar section of National Highway-114A; the KDH-Purnadih coal handling plant; and a new academic and administrative building of the Indian Institute of Information Technology-Ranchi.

“True secularism comes only when all possibilities of discrimination against any citizen of the country are eliminated,” Modi said, adding that social justice was ensured only when the benefits of government schemes reach everyone in the same measure.

This is the spirit behind the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra which he flagged off on Wednesday. “In this journey, the government will go to every village of the country in mission mode and will make every poor and deprived person a beneficiary of government schemes,” Modi added.