Agartala: The Tripura government would seek a special package of Rs 8389.71 crore from the Centre for development of the state’s indigenous people, who constitute one third of its population, a minister said on Friday.
The tribal people of the state remained backward as no previous government had taken any initiative for their development, Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath, also the cabinet spokesperson, told reporters here.
“Our government asked all the state departments to make an overall estimate for tribal development. We have compiled the estimates made by the departments and decided to put forward the demand to the central government,” Nath said.
“We made a comprehensive package amounting to Rs 8389.71 crore for tribal welfare. The council of ministers passed the package and the same will be sent to the Centre for final approval. The package would be used for socio-economic, cultural and linguistic development of the indigenous people,” the minister said.
The council of ministers in the BJP-IPFT government has made the decision to seek the package at a meeting on Tuesday.
Before the February 18 assembly election, Nath said, a team of the BJP and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and briefed him about the socio-economic condition of the tribal people. At the meeting, it was decided that a high level committee would be constituted to look into their problems and taking remedial measures, he said.
“We also made a poll promise that a modality committee would be formed to ensure development of tribal people if the BJP was voted to power,” Nath, a BJP leader, said.
The Centre has constituted the committee with Reena Mitra, the secretary of MHA’s internal security, as its chairperson and Satyendra Kumar Garg, the joint secretary of MHA, as its member secretary.
The committee visited the state in August and held meetings with officials of the state government, the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, political parties and NGOs to know their views on the development of tribals.
Recently, the committee has sought to know the view of the state government before drawing up a plan for the welfare of the tribal people. (PTI)
