Jharkhand CM Slams Centre's 'Anti-Tribal' Policies

Sahebganj (Jharkhand), Nov 24 (PTI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday hit out at the Centre for its alleged anti-tribal stand and urged people to show the exit door to the BJP government at the Centre in the next elections.

Soren was speaking at the launch of the third phase of ‘Apki Yojana, Apki Sarkar, Apke Dwar (your scheme, your government at your doorstep) at his assembly constituency Barhait in Jharkhand's Sahebganj district.

"The way it (Centre) has diluted the forest rights Act, tribals and moolvasi will have to launch another struggle. Prices of all essential commodities including food, clothes, medicines are skyrocketing. LPG cylinder, which was earlier at Rs 400, is now being sold at Rs 1000-Rs 1200, which is out of the reach of the poor," Soren said.

"They (BJP government) need to be removed from the Centre this time. Otherwise, there will be no place left for tribal, backward and dalits in the country," CM said.

Soren alleged that whenever elections come, they (BJP leaders) remember Bhognadih (main centre of Santhal rebellion) and Ulihatu (birthplace of tribal icon Birsa Munda).

The remarks come close on heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Birsa Munda's birthplace Ulihatu in Jharkhand's Khunti district on November 15.

Modi, who was the first Prime Minister to visit Ulihatu, also launched several projects including Rs 24,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PM PVTG) Mission for the holistic development of around 28 lakh PVTGs in the country.

Soren said in a bid to provide the rights to forest dwellers, his government launched ‘Abu Bir Dishom' campaign on mission mode.

Under the mission, the government has set a target to provide community forest rights (CFR) titles to 10,000 villages, individual forest rights (IFR) to around one lakh families and dispose of 20,679 pending claims.

The chief minister said his government was committed to work for the development of tribal, poor, backward and others but the opposition continued to create obstacles in the way.

Taking a dig at the opposition in Jharkhand, he said, "They (opposition) hide behind the CBI and ED and think the government would get scared by their names. This government will not get scared but it is ready to fight. In the upcoming elections, they (opposition) will be driven out."

Soren said the opposition levels charges of corruption against him. "Interestingly, the man, whose government ruined the state with corruption, has now been made a governor," he alleged.

He also blamed that the governors are now behaving like politicians and engaged in publicising Centre's policies.

The CM announced that the government would soon start distribution of 1kg pulses to every family enrolled under food security scheme.

"The obligation to provide the benefits of Savitribai Phule Kishori Samridhi Yojana to two girl children of a family has been abolished. Now, all girls in a family will benefit from the scheme," he said.

The CM also launched and laid foundation of projects worth Rs 212 crore on the occasion. The ‘government at your doorstep' programme was launched in 2021, when 6,867 camps were organised and as many as 35.95 lakh applications were generated. In the second phase in 2022, a total of 5,696 camps were organised and 55.44 lakh applications were generated, and official said.