BJP president Amit Shah on Friday said that tribals who have missed the bus of growth and development during the previous Governments would be heading to attain “self-rule” in its true sense under the Modi dispensation .
The BJP Government started a welfare scheme for tribals in 2014 and later brought in a law to ensure that 10 per cent of royalty on the income made from minerals, which are mostly in areas inhabited by scheduled tribes, is spent on developing these places, shah said in a blog.
Over Rs 9,100 crore has been deposited in District Mineral Foundation constituted for this purpose, he said, adding the money will be spent on local area development.
In poll-bound Gujarat, where the BJP has been in power for over two decades, 14.75 per cent of budget is spent on the development
of tribals, who are in considerable numbers in 14 districts, he said.
"It is due to the efforts of BJP Governments that Gujarat's tribal areas are not behind other regions in any criterion 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 to attain self-rule in the true sense and the BJP and the Modi Government are fully committed in this direction," he said.
In this context, Shah mentioned his recent three-day stay in Jharkhand, where he visited the village of tribal legend and freedom fighter Birsa Munda.
The previous NDA Government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee had formed a ministry for the development of tribals, he said.