Bhopal (The Hawk): On Tuesday, at the second annual Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, the state government of Madhya Pradesh will officially announce the implementation of the Provisions of the Panchayats Extension to the Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996, making it the seventh state in the nation to do so. President Droupadi Murmu will make the announcement.
The BJP-led administration in Madhya Pradesh has chosen to hold Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas on November 15 to commemorate tribal independence hero Birsa Munda's birth anniversary.
At the second iteration of this programme, which will take place in Shahdol, President Murmu will be the chief guest.
There are a sizable number of tribal people living in Shahdol district.
With only a few months till the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, the state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will attempt to win support from the tribal minority on the platform of introducing this act.
Since coming back to power in 2020 after the collapse of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan administration has already implemented almost 20 tribal-focused programmes.
Notably, more than 15 tribal-specific programmes were unveiled in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021 on the occasion of the first "Janjatiya Gaurav Divas."
One of the main motivations for making such a step was to win over the tribal voters in the state, as in the most recent assembly elections in 2018, the BJP only won 16 of the 47 seats allotted to Madhya Pradesh's tribal communities, while the Congress won 30 of them.
IANS spoke to tribal leaders from both the ruling and opposition parties to learn more about the status of certain significant tribal-centric programmes that the BJP government had introduced during the previous 1.5 years.
Based on the exchanges, it became clear that many initiatives were still only on paper for a variety of reasons, including a lack of funding.
Additionally, it was suggested that some significant structures and locations, including as the University of Chhindwara and the Habibganj Railway Station, now known as Rani Kamlapati Railway Station, be given new names in honour of tribal leaders.
Tribal leader Pankaj Takam of the in power BJP said: "There are programmes in place for food grain distribution to homes. In addition to providing tribal adolescents with employment, this programme also provides them with food grain delivery to their homes. Undoubtedly, certain regions have issues that need to be fixed, particularly those that are isolated or in forested areas."
According to Takam, numerous districts have begun the process of distributing land under the "van adhikar" scheme.
Despite acknowledging that some programmes have been carried out and that tribal people are benefiting from them, Ashok Matkole, a Congress (tribal) MLA, claimed that more than half of the Rs 26,000 crore received from the Centre specifically for tribal-centric programmes was allocated to other programmes.
Matkole further asserted that the Tendu Patta Scheme did not grant Van Samiti (tribe forest committees) any rights.
"3.5 lakh of the six lakh applications from tribal people for land were turned down. To now, CM Chouhan's declaration that tribal people will receive free sand to build their "pukka" homes has only been an announcement "said he.
For the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections in 2023, both the BJP and the Congress have been preparing their strategy to win as many tribal seats as possible.
(Inputs from Agencies)
