By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:BJP will celebrate the 151st birth anniversary of the great freedom fighter ‘Dharti Aba’ Bhagwan Birsa Munda on November 15 and the 127th birth anniversary of Shaheed Laxman Nayak on November 22. On this occasion, November 11 to 22 is going to be celebrated as ‘National Pride Day’. Under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the guidance of National President Shri Nitin Naveen, Bharatiya Janata Party is celebrating ‘National Pride Day’ from November 11 to 22 in every tribal-dominated district and assembly constituency, said BJP Scheduled Tribes Morcha State President and former MLA Shri Kandra Soren.
The press conference held at the state office today provided detailed information about the programmes and presented the historic steps taken for the welfare of the tribal community. Bhagwan Birsa Munda, who was born on November 15, 1875 in Ulihatu, Jharkhand, led the ‘Ulgulan’ (great rebellion) by uniting the tribals against British oppression and gave the slogan “Abua Disam Abua Raj”. He was martyred at the age of just 25 to protect water, forests, land and tribal pride. Paying tribute to his sacrifice, the Modi government is declaring his birth anniversary as ‘Adivasi Gaurav Diwas’, said Shri Soren.
Hon’ble Minister Shri Nityanand Gand, who was present at the press conference, said that PM-Janman Yojana has been implemented for the development of 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of the country. Under this scheme, 4.82 lakh houses have been sanctioned, 7992 km of roads have been constructed and more than 1.35 lakh houses have been connected to electricity. Under the Dharti Aba Janjantiya Gram Akhtar Abhiyan, schemes of 17 ministries are being simultaneously reached to more than 5 crore tribals in 63,000 villages with an estimated cost of Rs 79.156 crore. 728 Ekalabya Model Residential Schools are being set up for quality education. 11.83 lakh people have been provided livelihood through 3,958 Vandhan Kendras. The budget of the Tribal Affairs Ministry in 2014-15 was Rs 4,497.96 crore, while in 2025-26 it has increased by 231% to Rs 14,926 crore.
A separate tribal ministry was formed in 1999 under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. During the Modi government, Smt. Draupadi Murmu was appointed as the country’s first tribal woman President. Odisha Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Shri Bishnu Deb Sai and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Shri Pema Khandu represent the tribal community. Minister Shri Gand said that after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, 9 Scheduled Tribe reserved assembly seats have been created.
The party will organize a large-scale program in 12 Scheduled Tribes-dominated districts of Odisha.
The Chief Minister’s Tribal Livelihood Mission is operational in 23 ITDA blocks of the state. Giving information about the program schedule for the National Pride Week to be held from November 11 to 18, Shri Kandra said that along with this, the state-level birth anniversary of martyr Laxman Nayak will also be celebrated with great enthusiasm. On November 12, the Honorable President Smt. Draupadi Murmu will interact with 200 Ekalavya Vidyalaya students and PVTG representatives at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The National Tribal Literature Festival will be held in New Delhi for two days on November 12 and 13. Floral tributes will be paid at the Parliament House and Ulihatu, the birthplace of Bhagwan Birsa Munda, on the 15th. Similarly, on this occasion, a Pride Yatra, cultural programs, felicitation of local tribals and sickle cell anemia health camps will be organized. Following the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Mantramuksha’, the Modi government is providing respect, security and prosperity to the tribal community. All citizens are requested to pay homage to Bhagwan Birsa Munda and local tribal leaders in their respective villages and areas on November 15. Shri Kandra has requested the media persons to convey this glorious story to the public.Senior leader Ms. Sukeshi Oram and Scheduled Tribes Morcha State General Secretary Mr. Gangaram Soren were present at the press conference.
