New Delhi: Eyeing the support of the tribal communities in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP in its manifesto released Sunday promised to declare the year 2025 as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh’ to mark the 150th birth anniversary of tribal leader and icon Birsa Munda, and provide them livelihood opportunities, especially to women.
In 2021, the Modi government had declared 15 November as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ to mark the birth anniversary of the tribal icon. In its second term, it took a slew of initiatives for the welfare of tribal communities, including the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG).
In the past year, the Centre has announced several key initiatives such as the National Sickle Cell Anemia Mission (screening, prevention, and management of sickle cell anemia in all tribal population), the Rs 24,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN), Venture Capital Fund for ST (aimed at promoting entrepreneurship among STs) among others.
The PM-JANMAN scheme, aimed at providing basic services such as housing, roads, medical facilities etc, to the PVTG population living in remote corners of the country, was launched ahead of the assembly elections last year. The PM had launched the scheme from Khunti in Jharkhand in November last year.
The BJP’s tribal outreach has helped the party strengthen its foothold in tribal areas in states such as Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which has a vast ST population. For instance, in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, BJP won 17 out of 29 ST constituencies in 2023 as against three assembly constituencies in 2018.
In its manifesto, the BJP has not announced any big-ticket scheme or initiative such as the PM-JANMAN and has reiterated its old promises and ongoing schemes such as development of tribal museums, construction of Eklavya Model Residential Schools, implementation of PM-JANMAN, among others.
The BJP has promised that if voted to power it will take measures for expanding the livelihood option of ST and other communities. It said that the ongoing schemes such as PM-SVANidhi, which is aimed at providing loans to street vendors in cities, will be extended to villages.
As for minor forest produce, the BJP said that it will encourage innovative and technology-driven startups to initiate commercially viable and sustainable forest-based enterprises. “We will associate all eligible tribal self-help groups with Vandhan Vikas Kendra, National Rural Livelihood Mission for scaling up the activities relating to minor forest produces and will be provided skill and entrepreneurial training….We will further expand employment opportunities through eco tourism and homestays,” the manifesto said.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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