Modi inaugurates Aadi Mahotsav, says tribal welfare 'personal matter'

As the BJP intensifies its efforts ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to win the votes of the tribal communities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated the tribal affairs ministry’s Adi Mahotsav, and said the development of tribals is something “personal” for him.

Inaugurating the festival, organised annually by the Union ministry of tribal affairs’ Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation (TRIFED), Modi paid tributes to tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda. He said that for the first time, the country has started celebrating Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas on Munda’s birth anniversary.

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Modi said the welfare of tribal communities is a “matter of personal relationship and emotions” for him. He further said that while growing up in Gujarat, he spent the formative years of his life serving tribal communities in the state’s tribal belt, ranging from Umargam to Ambika. “I have seen tribal traditions closely, their lifestyle taught me about our culture, traditions, and heritage,” Modi said.

Modi also said that the government is promoting tribal products, ensuring they reach the right markets and increasing their recognition and demand. Giving the example of bamboo, he noted that the previous government had prohibited the harvest and use of bamboo, but the present government included bamboo in the category of grass, thereby doing away with the prohibition.

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He also said that more than 3,000 Van Dhan Kendras had been established across states, 90 minor forest products have been brought into the ambit of MSP, and there are 1.25 crore tribal members in more than 80 lakh self-help groups across the country.

He said that one of his government’s priorities is to educate tribal children and that the number of Eklavya Model Residential Schools has increased from 80 schools between 2004-2014 to 500 schools from 2014 to 2022.

He further said that more than 400 schools have already started functioning, teaching about 1 lakh children and that this year’s Budget has announced 38,000 teachers and staff for these schools. “Our tribal children and youth studying in their own language and progressing has now become a reality”, Modi said.