Asserting that the nomadic community will no longer be forced to wander from place to place, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly says that those whom the Congress and the Samajwadi Party never cared about have been honoured and integrated into the mainstream of society by the double-engine government, according to a state government press statement.
He said the government would ensure the representation of every community in the Denotified and Nomadic Communities Development Board and work to extend the benefits of all government welfare schemes to them.
He was addressing members of denotified and nomadic communities who had gathered to thank the government for the board, which the state cabinet recently approved.
Adityanath said the initiative was part of the BJP-led government’s policy of inclusive development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ vision.
“The new link in this chain of inclusive development is the Nomadic Communities Development Board,” the chief minister said.
He said members of denotified communities had been unfairly branded as “criminal tribes” under the British-era Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 because many among them had actively participated in India’s freedom struggle.
“Through the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, the British declared those brave communities who played a leading role in India’s freedom struggle as criminals. After the First War of Independence in 1857, the British deliberately imposed this stigma on these communities to destroy their social standing. In independent India, Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar ended this injustice by restoring their dignity as denotified communities, but sustained efforts for their comprehensive development were not made for a long time.”
{{/usCountry}}“Through the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, the British declared those brave communities who played a leading role in India’s freedom struggle as criminals. After the First War of Independence in 1857, the British deliberately imposed this stigma on these communities to destroy their social standing. In independent India, Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar ended this injustice by restoring their dignity as denotified communities, but sustained efforts for their comprehensive development were not made for a long time.”
{{/usCountry}}“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a national commission was constituted for these communities, and inspired by the same vision, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to establish the Nomadic Development Board,” he said.
The Vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 is now reaching the last person in society, he said.
He recalled that representatives of the nomadic community had demanded the formation of the board during their convention last year, and he had announced it then.
He said the process of constituting the Board has now begun and assured that it will be completed soon.
The board’s structure would ensure representation from different nomadic and denotified communities so that their voices reach the government directly and development programs for them can be implemented more effectively, he added.
“The double-engine government has, for the first time, extensively connected deprived communities such as the Vantangiya, Musahar, Tharu, Gond, Chero, Buksa, Kol, and Sahariya with government welfare schemes. These communities have been provided the benefits of ration cards, land leases, Pradhan Mantri and Mukhyamantri housing schemes, Ayushman Bharat cards, free electricity and gas connections, and pensions for senior citizens, destitute women, and Divyangjan,” he said.
He also referred to projects such as the installation of Nishadraj Guha’s statue at Shringverpur, the Maharaja Suheldev memorial in Bahraich, tribal museums and educational institutions named after tribal and backward community icons as examples of efforts to honour historically neglected communities.