The State BJP, setting a target of mission 65 plus, has planned a strategy to win maximum tribal reserved seats in year-end Assembly election. The party has set a target to win 22 out of 28 tribal reserved seats.
State BJP vice-president and party Rajya Sabha member Samir Oraon on Thursday said, “The BJP government at centre and state has done a lot of work for tribal uplift.
The Atal Bihari Vajpyaee Government at centre was the first Government to set up separate tribal ministry for development of.” Highlighting some of the schemes of Raghubar Das Government, Oraon said, “For educational uplift of tribal students, the State Government has announced pre matric and post matric scholarship for tribal students.
Around Rs 30 lakh tribal students will be benefitted and the State Government has earmarked Rs 527 crore for the scheme.” He also said that to promote higher education among tribal groups, the Raghubar Das Government has announced cash incentives of Rs 1 lakh for tribal students for preparations of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) test.
The Saffron party – facing tribal community’s wrath after Raghubar Das Government made a move to amend the Chhotanagpur and Santhal Pargana tenancy (CNT/SPT) Acts, which was later turned down by Governor Droupadi Murmu in 2017 after widespread protests from tribal groups – is working to lure the tribal group now.
The State BJP has planned a strategy to highlight the works carried out by Raghubar Das Government making people aware of the tribal schemes of Government.
The Government is committed to develop tribal martyr’s villages as model village and under the scheme 1125 houses will be constructed in these tribal martyr villages. The BJP Rajya Sabha MP claimed that Raghubar Das Government is first Government to set up a special police battalion, the first of its kind, exclusively comprising members of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
Among the 32 tribes in Jharkhand, nine have been recognised as PVTGs. These tribal groups are Asur, Birhor, Hill Kharia, Birajia, Korwa, Parahiya (Baiga), Sabar, Mal Pahariya and Souriya Pahariya constituting a population of 2.23 lakh out of the total 70.87 lakh tribal population as per the 2001 census.
Oraon claimed that with an aim to promote and safeguard tribal culture, the government has launched the scheme under which Manki, Munda and Ghatwal communities get cash incentives. Similarly, the government has converted the old Birsa Munda Central Jail as heritage museum.
The BJP Rajya Sabha member claimed that the BJP will create awareness about all these schemes among tribals with BJP cadre reaching door to door highlighting the benefits of these schemes. The BJP attempt to woe tribal voters assumes significance as in last Lok Sabha out of five tribal reserved seats, the BJP won three seats while in two others JMM and Congress candidates were victorious.The opposition parties including Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress eyeing tribals reserved seats have launched a campaign targeting BJP for attempting to tweak CNT/SPT Act, claiming that BJP with support of capitalist forces are in spree to grab tribal land.