Modi Government Has Formulated New Policies for Tribal Development: Dr. Shah

CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress / ITDC News Bhopal: Tribal Affairs Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi understood the challenges faced by tribal communities and formulated effective policies to ensure their participation in the development process. He said that concrete efforts are being made for the upliftment of tribal society through initiatives such as the PM Janman Scheme and Dharti Aaba Gram Utkarsh Yojana. He was addressing the inaugural session of a workshop on Technology-Based Sustainable Tribal Development organized under the Tribal Pride Festival at Adi Bhavan in Bhopal on Tuesday.

The workshop was attended by Principal Secretary Gulshan Bamra, Commissioner Dr. Satendra Singh, and field officers of the department from across the state. The event commenced with floral tributes to Birsa Munda.

Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah said that he has been continuously representing tribal regions since 1990 and has worked closely with tribal communities. He urged departmental officers to regularly visit villages and forest regions to closely understand the lives and conditions of tribal people and work according to real ground-level experiences.

He further stated that the campaign “Jan Bhagidari – Sabse Door, Sabse Pehle” is being conducted to ensure that government schemes reach tribal communities at their doorsteps. Through special camps under this campaign, beneficiaries from tribal villages will receive the benefits of 25 schemes from 18 departments.

Minister Shah also highlighted the remarkable work being carried out in tribal regions under the leadership of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. He said that conditions in tribal areas have significantly changed since the 1990s, and today tribal communities are becoming part of the mainstream development process.

He informed that in his assembly constituency, 50,000 water bottles are being distributed in Anganwadi centers, while 45,000 students from Class 1 to Class 12 have been provided water bottles for drinking water purposes. Additionally, water coolers and RO systems have been installed in 150 Gram Panchayats of his constituency to ensure access to clean drinking water in every village and school.

The minister further stated that girls from tribal areas often hesitate to travel to city colleges and sometimes discontinue higher education due to lack of facilities. To address this issue, he experimentally introduced four buses in his region, which increased the percentage of girls attending college from 30 percent to 80 percent. He emphasized that this initiative should be expanded to other areas as well.

During the workshop, Commissioner for Tribal Area Development Dr. Satendra Singh delivered the welcome address. MANIT Associate Professor Dr. Sanyam Shukla spoke on the application of Artificial Intelligence in livelihood and employment generation, while IISER Associate Professor Dr. Kumar Gaurav addressed participants on GIS and satellite remote sensing in sustainable tribal development.

In the second session of the workshop, IAS officer and TRIFED representative Preeti Maithil spoke on tribal livelihood and entrepreneurship development. IIIT Assistant Professor Dr. Shubhrajyoti Deb delivered a lecture on “Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Indian Agriculture,” while IIIT Assistant Professor Dr. Nikhil Kumar Singh shared insights on “Use of Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare.”