Kolkata: Urging the tribals not to trust the BJP, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Debu Tudu said the budgetary allocation for tribal development has increased by 10 folds in the state in past 10 years.
The leader said the BJP-led government is a government of 'cheaters' who have betrayed people. Cautioning the tribal people not to get swayed by the promises made by the BJP, he said: "BJP distributed forms and asked the youths to fill it as 35 lakhs will be given to them. Suddenly the party has withdrawn the forms. Earlier, they had promised to give 2 crore jobs and deposit Rs 15 lakh in the savings account of every Indian. Both are hoaxes."
The leader claimed that the BJP does not have any concrete plan and is spreading canard and lies to criticise the Trinamool Congress-led state government.
According to Tudu, prior to 2011 tribals in the 'Junglemahal' used to die out of hunger. "In 34 years, the Left government didn't do anything for the development of the Taposhili community (tribals). During the Left regime, the poor people in Bengal including the farmers used to remain jobless for several months. They had to mortgage their belongings, including land, watches and even bicycles. But, after TMC came to power, no poor in rural areas is forced to mortgage his land or goes hungry," he claimed.
The TMC leader lambasted the CPI (M) party for exploiting the poor and tribals in the state for 34 years. "People of Bengal haven't forgotten how the tribals in the 'Junglemahal' were exploited by the Left government. The tribals were presented as Maoists. After 2011, democracy was restored in the 'Junglemahal.' The CPI(M) government had destroyed the culture of the tribals. They stopped the tribals from playing the traditional musical instrument 'Dhamsa Madol.' The sounds of firing and bomb explosions echoed in the 'Junglemahal.' They (CPI-M) gave arms to the tribals," he said.
After Mamata Banerjee became the Chief Minister—as Tudu claimed—she restored democracy in the 'Junglemahal.' "She (Mamata Banerjee) gave jobs to the tribal youths in police. The tribals, who had joined the Maoist forces, returned back to the mainstream society under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. Now, no one in the 'Junglemahal' goes hungry. They get employment through 100 days work. We (Bengal) are number one in the implementation of 100 days work. This is what has happened in the past 10 years," he said.
The TMC leader insisted that Mamata Banerjee preserved the tradition and culture of the tribals. "After she (Mamata Banerjee) came to power, she returned the Dhamsa Madol to the tribals. She gave identity cards to the tribal and folk artistes. Across the state, the folk and tribal artistes are getting Rs 1,000 per month. This helped in preservation of the tribal culture," he said.
The leader claimed that the Mamata Banerjee government changed the scenario of education among tribals. "Earlier, our (tribal) children couldn't study due to communication problems. They had to walk for 20 to 30 km to reach the school. Now, concrete roads have been constructed which run through the Adivasi localities. The tribal students are now happily going to their schools, riding the cycles received through Sabuj Sathi scheme on these roads," he said, adding the tribal students are now empowered and pursuing higher education.Coming down heavily on the CPI (M) government, he claimed that the left parties used "the tribal people to win votes." "CPIM had forced us (tribals) to rally behind the leaders holding red flags," he claimed.
But, Mamata Banerjee changed the social and political condition of the tribals, claimed Tudu. "To bring equality, Mamata Banerjee reserved 50 per cent seats at the Panchayat level for the tribals. Earlier, only 33 per cent seats were reserved," he said, referring to how this move has politically empowered the tribals and Adivasis. "In no other state in the country, such reservation has been done for the tribals," he added.
The leader also claimed that it was due to the initiative taken up by Mamata Banerjee during 2003 that the tribal youths in the state are now able to study in their own script, 'oi chiki.'
The leader further urged the tribals not to trust the BJP as it would also ruin them like the CPI (M) in Junglemahal and other areas. "The cadres who used to wear red shirts are now wearing saffron shirts," he remarked.
The leader further claimed that schemes like Kanyashree and Rupashree have given much relief to the fathers of girl children. Moreover, he lauded the outreach drive of Duare Sarkar, which is taking such welfare schemes to people's doorstep and has reached out to around 1.5 crore people already.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien tweeted: "What the "tourist gang" won't tell you. Bengal's allocation for SC/ST welfare more than doubled in the last 10 years, Rs 2024 cr per annum. Union budget saw massive shortfalls in allocations SC Population: 16.6% Funds allocated: 8.5% ST Population: 8.6% Funds allocated: 5.6%