RANCHI: Urging tribal women to make the most of the welfare schemes run by government agencies, President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said that she was happy with the widening opportunities for the present generation of tribal youth across the country.
Addressing a women conference organized by the union ministry of tribal affairs at Khunti, the scheduled district home to tribal icon Birsa Munda, Murmu, who is on a three-day visit to Jharkhand, recalled her own challenges as a young tribal girl with present times.
“As a young girl, my grandmother would often take me along to pick Mahua in the village at 2am. We would store them previously and would eat them at times. We tried our best to preserve them as they would stand the risk of getting rotten. And today, I am so happy to see how the tribal women and the self-help groups are making cakes and ladoos from it and earning money,” said Murmu.
The President said that being a woman or being born in a tribal society is not a disadvantage. She shared that there are countless inspiring examples of the contribution of women in the country and that women have made invaluable contributions in social reforms, politics, economy, education, science and research, business, sports and military forces and many other fields.
Murmu said that to become successful in any field, it is very important that they recognize their talent and do not judge themselves on the scale of others. Recalling her own journey, the President said she was standing at the dais all because of democracy.
{{/usCountry}}Murmu said that to become successful in any field, it is very important that they recognize their talent and do not judge themselves on the scale of others. Recalling her own journey, the President said she was standing at the dais all because of democracy.
{{/usCountry}}“Don’t just get laid back thinking the government would provide everything. You will have to take one or two extra steps than the government to move ahead. And, once you get ahead, don’t forget those lagging,” added Murmu.
The President said that the tribal society presents ideal examples in many fields. “One of these is the non-prevalence of the dowry system in the tribal society. Many people in our society, even the well-educated ones, have not been able to give up the dowry system till date,” said Murmu.
Meanwhile, addressing the gathering, chief minister Hemant Soren urged the Centre to grant separate Sarna code to tribals.
“There is a need to preserve the tribal culture. We have demanded a separate Sarna code. We also want tribal languages Ho, Mundari and Kurukh to be included in the eighth schedule. We urge the Centre to grant these,” said Soren.
Later in the day, she visited the campus of IIT in Namkum and handed over medals to students at its second convocation ceremony.