Tribal communities deprived of rights before 2017: CM

Hindustan Times

21-04-2025

LUCKNOW Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said the tribal communities got all their rights in UP, including housing , water and power, among others, after the BJP government came to power in the state in 2017
'In 2017, after our government was formed, we thought about the 55 villages of the Vantangiya community, recognised them and also provided all facilities to them, including voting rights. Earlier, they were exploited by police,' the CM said.
'There was no facility of ration card, power supply and road connectivity for 55 Vantangiya villages. But things changed after the BJP government came to power. All facilities were provided to all tribes including Tharu, Musahar, Kol and Gond,' said Adityanath at an event to felicitate volunteers of the Guru Gorakhnath Health Service Yatra 5.0, organised by the National Medicos Organisation, a body run by the RSS that extends all kinds of medical aid to people, including tribals, living along the Indo-Nepal order. Dattatreya Hosabale, general secretary) of the RSS, was also present.
Addressing the gathering, the CM said: 'Before the BJP formed the government in the state in 2017, the Vantangiya tribals living in 55 villages did not have basic amenities.'
'The forest department and policemen used to exploit them. When the BJP government came in 2017, these villages got the recognition of revenue villages and gradually all the schemes were implemented,' he said.
'Before this (when BJP formed government in the state), some missionaries and leftists used to brainwash the tribal society,' asserted the CM.
The CM pointed out that there has been a long series of yatras in India. Adi Shankaracharya also connected India culturally through Shankar Digvijay Yatra.
He added that from north to south, east to west, India has been a cultural unit since ancient times and no ban could be imposed on religious yatras. The work of re-establishing similar unity at the India-Nepal border area also started five years ago.
Adityanath shared historical facts and told that the people of Tharu tribe were settled in the Terai forests by the British.
'They were told to live in the forest, no salary was given. They lived in huts, suffered exploitation. Even when independence was achieved, the governments kept their eyes closed,' said the CM.
He added that these people became voters for the first time in the 2022 and 2024 elections. 'Now every village has a road, every house has electricity, everyone has got houses. Anganwadi centres are open, schools and health centers are being built. Every facility including ration, Ayushman Yojana, pension has reached there,' he added.
On the occasion, Adityanath felicitated workers and officials involved in the yatra, acknowledging their contributions to nation-building and social unity.
Hosabale stressed on the need of social service. He narrated the example of the Covid pandemic when the society at large extended all out support to the needy and migrant workers who travelled to their home towns across the country, including UP.