Ranchi, Aug. 9: Jharkhand's first non-Adivasi chief minister Raghubar Das today promised a facelift for 4,000-odd tribal villages, an Adivasi parishad and skills training and employment opportunities for youths and women to transform the lives of the state's 26.2 per cent indigenous people.
Leading the celebrations to mark International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Das seized the opportunity to strike a chord with tribals and announced Mukhyamantri Adivasi Gram Yojana to be launched on August 15.
Under this project, the state government will work towards changing the face of around 4,000 villages, where tribal population ranges between 70 and 80 per cent, by 2019.
"In the next four years, we will cover all these villages through special programmes for all-round development. Each self-help group, comprising women tribal members, will be given Rs 2 lakh. Also, tribal youths will get vocational courses. On successful completion of the training, if someone wants to start his own business, he can avail a Rs 2-lakh grant," Das said before a 5,000-strong gathering at Birsa Munda Football Stadium, Morabadi.
Referring to yesterday's five witch-hunt murders at Mandar in Ranchi, the chief minister said Jharkhand was lagging behind many states in terms of education, which had again been proven by the gory incident at Kanjiya Marai Toli, 30km from the capital.
"The government is committed to development of tribals. Tribal Advisory Council (TAC) already met twice in the past seven months since the new government came to power. This apart, the government is duty bound to form Adivasi Vikas Parishad by September with a mandate to plan development for Scheduled Areas. Special Investigation Team (SIT) has already been formed to probe illegal transfer of tribal land. Under SIT, we will start receiving online complaints from August 15," Das claimed.
He told people development was possible only in a climate of peace, possibly hinting at rebel presence.
The first tribal woman governor of Jharkhand, Droupadi Murmu highlighted Jharkhand's indigenous groups as people who loved nature and had a very rich history. "We should feel proud to be adivasis," she said.
"The government should tackle problems of migration and trafficking," she added.
Condemning the Mandar murders, she urged tribals to shun superstitions.
The state government claimed to have invited all former chief ministers, all tribals, but Arjun Munda, Babulal Marandi, Madhu Koda, Shibu Soren and Hemant Soren were conspicuous by their absence. Assembly Speaker Dinesh Oraon, Union minister of state Sudarshan Bhagat, state welfare minister Louise Marandi, her rural development counterpart Neelkanth Singh Munda, Ranchi mayor Asha Lakra, among others, were present.
Lively performances - pykka by Shiv Shankar Mahli group and jhumar by Mukund Nayak group - stole the show.
The beats prompted chief minister Das and governor Murmu to step down from the dais and dance along with the audience.
Tata Steel-sponsored Tribal Cultural Society organised kati, a dying tribal sport, at the capital event.
