Must protect tribal rights, culture and heritage: CM Sarbananda Sonowal

MORIGAON/JAGIROAD: "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition State Government of Assam has been doing everything to provide Constitutional safeguards to the tribal people. The 35 ethnic tribes of the State have been given equal rights for development of their education and culture," said Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday.

The Chief Minister said this while addressing the 38th central general session of the 'All Assam Tribal Sangha' at the 'Giridhar Patar Samannwoy Kshetra' at Nelli in Morigaon district. As the chief guest, he also stressed the need to protect tribal rights, culture and heritage for strengthening the greater Assamese society.

The Chief Minister appreciated the role played by the 'All Assam Tribal Sangha' in the development of indigenous tribal communities across the State while relentlessly voicing the concerns and fighting for the rights of the tribals while making them politically aware. He also informed the gathering about the various steps taken by the State Government for the development of the tribal population.

The Chief Minister announced that Rs 1 lakh would be provided to each of the 1,300 landless families of Laika-Dodhia for their rehabilitation.

Highlighting the steps initiated by the State Government like providing land pattas to 3.34 lakh landless indigenous families of the State in the last four-and-half years, Sonowal said that sincere efforts had been made by the State Government to preserve and protect the folk culture, language and literature of the tribals and State-level functions for remembering the great personalities of tribal communities had also been organized by the State Government.

Following the motto of 'Sabka saath, sabka vikash, sabka viswas' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, all communities have been developed equally, he said adding that as part of that initiative, 22 indigenous Sahitya Sabhas have been provided corpus funds worth Rs 75 crore by the State Government.

Urging the tribal people to assert their rights over their lands, Sonowal said that only government actions would not suffice if the tribal people did not stay alert about the control of their lands. He also called on the tribal societies to focus on education, sports and culture in shaping their younger generations and he appreciated the tribal youths who had excelled in different fields like agriculture, sports and education, among others. Terming the present age as the age of science and technology, he implored organizations like the 'All Assam Tribal Sangha' to motivate the tribal youths towards science.

Stating that without protection of the rights of the tribals, Assam could not progress, he assured the gathering that the State Government would continue to work for the holistic development of the indigenous tribal communities in the future as well.

WPT&BC Minister Chandan Brahma informed the gathering about the various schemes launched for the tribal population; and assured them about the continued endeavours for uplift of the communities.

Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Pijush Hazarkia, and the general secretary of All Assam Tribal Sangha, Aditya Khaklari also addressed the public.

Among those present on the occasion were MP Pradan Barua; MLAs Ramakanta Deuri and Dimbeswar Das; CEM of Tiwa Autonomous Council, Jiban Konwar; president of the 'All Assam Tribal Sangha' Milan Sonowal and representatives of various tribal organizations.