Tribals have significant role to play in making India self-reliant by 2047: Governor

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Friday said tribal people have a significant role to play in making the country self-reliant by 2047 and stressed the need to bring them on par with the country’s development pace.

The Governor was speaking at an event organised to celebrate the Tribals Pride Day and Jharkhand Foundation Day at the Raj Bhavan.

Recollecting the contributions made by freedom fighter Birsa Munda to the national movement, Mr. Ravi said: “Today we celebrate the contribution of tribal brothers and sisters in nation building with a sense of pride. In the 78th year of our Independence, if we look at the plight of our tribal brothers and sisters, it gives us a deep sense of anguish. In the pace of development, they are still way behind.

He said tribal people constitute nearly 8% of the country’s population. “Majority of them are in a very backward state of development. This is something unacceptable and compels us to think, while the country is moving forward, why our tribal brothers and sisters are left behind?... Among the 700 tribal communities, 75 of them are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) and they are further behind. Our country cannot adopt the capitalist model of development. The country has to grow in the sense of a family,” he said.

Mr. Ravi said that until Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, the issues of tribal people were not taken seriously and they were used only for vote bank politics. Mr. Modi’s approach of treating the country as one family paved the way for projects in health, education, infrastructure, financial inclusion, digital payments to reach tribal people without any discrimination. “Only in the last 10 years, more than 100 tribal leaders from different walks of life were awarded the Padma awards. Earlier the awards were given only to those who were close to corridors of power,” he said.

The Governor also paid floral tributes to the decorated portrait of Birsa Munda. Representatives from various tribal organisations were present during the occasion. Earlier in the day, Mr. Ravi paid homage at the Sri Guru Nanak Sat Sangh Sabha in T. Nagar on the 555th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikhism.

Published - November 16, 2024 12:19 am IST