Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel sent a proposal in this regard to Speaker of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Dr. Mahant
Urged to convene a special assembly session on December 1 and 2
Raipur, 09 November 2022, Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel has sent a proposal to convene a special session of the state assembly next month on the tribal reservation issue to the Speaker of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Dr. Charandas Mahant.
Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel has assured that the state government is committed to provide the benefit of 32 per cent reservation to the tribals in Chhattisgarh and all necessary steps are being taken in this regard. A team of senior officials and social workers from Chhattisgarh will visit Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka to study the legal status of reservations in these states. An order has also been issued by the general administration department for the formation of the study team and the necessary guidelines in this regard.
“There will be no loss of any kind to the reserved category in the state and ensuring this is among our topmost priorities. The state government is working consciously to protect the rights of tribals provided in the Constitution. A request has also been made to convene a special session of the state assembly in this regard next month”, said the Chief Minister.
It is noteworthy that the Chhattisgarh government is making untiring efforts for the upliftment and welfare of the tribal community. In this line, a public holiday has been announced on the occasion of World Tribal Day. To ensure proper development of the tribal-dominated regions, the local MLAs have been appointed as chairpersons of the development authorities. Several schemes have been implemented for the upliftment of the tribal community. The work of conservation and restoration of ‘Devgudis’–the places of faith of the tribal community–and ‘Ghotul’ is also being done on priority for nearly the last four years. The Chhattisgarh government is working for the holistic development of the tribal-dominated areas of the state.
Special provisions have been made for tribal-dominated districts under the leadership of Chief Minister Mr. Baghel. Besides, the state government has also undertaken the unique initiative to promote the rich and glorious tribal culture of the state on an international platform by organizing the National Tribal Dance Festival–a cultural extravaganza celebrating tribal culture and tradition. Furthermore, the distribution of forestland rights letters and implementation of PESA law has been done in the interest of forest dwellers.
The welfare of farmers, tribals, forest dwellers, and the underprivileged is among the topmost priorities of the state government. Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi was formed as the first fully tribal district. In this line, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki and Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur districts have also been formed. Individual and community forestland rights letters are being distributed to the tribals to recognize their rights on the forest land. In the inaccessible forest regions, Gram Sabhas have been empowered with the implementation of PESA law.
In a bid to empower the forest dwellers dependent on the collection of Minor Forest Produce, the state government has increased the number of MFPs produced at minimum support price from 7 to 65. The state government is not only procuring MFPs at support price but their processing and value-addition work is also being done at the local level to boost the employment and income of forest dwellers. Saheed Mahendra Karma Tendupatta Sangrahak Samajik Suraksha Yojana has been started in August 2020 in the interest of tendupatta collectors and the collection rate of tendu leaves has been hiked from Rs 2500 per standard bag to Rs 4,000.
Bastar Academy of Dance, Art, and Literature (BADAL) was started in Bastar and a tribal museum has also been established there to promote the unique tribal culture of the region. Besides, the state government has also decided to impart primary education in local dialects such as Gondi and Halbi. The effective implementation of the “Malaria-free Bastar campaign” has helped in reducing the outbreak of malaria to a great extent in this tribal-dominated region. Besides, ‘Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyan’ has helped in preventing malnutrition among the children here.
On the initiative of Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel, the state government undertook the historic step of returning land to nearly 1707 tribal farmers of Lohandiguda which was acquired for a steel plant. Out of the orange areas in the districts of Bastar division, 30,439 hectares of land were recorded back under the revenue head. For the first time after independence, more than 52,500 farmers of the Abujhmad region in the Naxal-hit Narayanpur district were given the ‘masahti khasras’. The state government led by Shri Bhupesh Baghel has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of a retired Supreme Court judge to withdraw the cases registered against innocent tribals in Naxal-affected areas of the state. The move has given relief to hundreds of tribals who were suffering for years.
