BJP govt resettled Bru migrants, unlike CPI(M), Congress: Amit Shah

He said this after the virtual inauguration and foundation stone-laying ceremony of 13 development projects worth ₹668.39 crore at Kulai RF Village in Dhalai district

Agartala: The two-decade-old Bru migrants’ resettlement was completed under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, unlike the previous Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) and Congress governments, which failed to resolve their issues despite being in power for many years, said Union home minister Amit Shah in Tripura on Sunday.

Amit Shah at a public rally in Tripura on Sunday (PTI)

He said this after the virtual inauguration and foundation stone-laying ceremony of 13 development projects worth ₹668.39 crore at Kulai RF Village in Dhalai district.

Over 32,000 Bru migrants fled ethnic clashes in Mamit, Kolasib, and Lunglei districts of Mizoram in 1997 and came to Tripura. After two decades, a quadripartite agreement was signed in 2020 between the Centre, the governments of Tripura and Mizoram, and the Bru migrants, allowing them to resettle permanently in Tripura.

Highlighting the conditions of the Bru migrants in the state, Shah said that they had lived in subhuman conditions for 25 years, under a single shed, without access to drinking water, electricity, education, employment, sanitation, or healthcare.

Slamming the CPI(M) government and Congress over the Bru issue, Shah said that the Communists, who claimed to be the ‘messiah of poor’, ruled for 35 years, and Congress also governed for many years, but both failed to address the pain of the Bru migrants.

“When the BJP formed a government, with Biplab Deb as the chief minister (CM) and BJP in power at the Centre, the agreement for their resettlement was signed,” said Shah, adding that several schemes were launched during the Congress regime but were never implemented on the ground.

He said that 11 villages were resettled with an expenditure of ₹900 crore, along with provision of drinking water, electricity, brick-paved roads, house connectivity, solar streetlights, 35 kilograms of rice for each family, anganwadis, health centre, and new educational opportunities.

He added that the migrants were enlisted in the voters’ list, provided with ration cards, health cards, work opportunities through cooperatives, a 1,200 square feet plot, ₹1.5 lakh for housing, ₹4 lakh in financial assistance, and ₹5,000 monthly cash assistance for 24 months.

“Every condition mentioned in the agreement has been implemented on the ground. These 11 villages ensure that the Bru people receive every right of a citizen,” said Shah.

He recalled that the BJP had only 11 members when he visited the state as party president in 2017. Later, party members worked hard to remove the former Left government from power.

Comparing the Left era to the current BJP government, Shah said that 85% of people now have water connections, up from 2.5% during the Left regime. He also highlighted that 82% of the poor receive free 5kgs of rice, 80% of people avail Ayushman Bharat health coverage, and the dropout rate has decreased to 3%, with enrollment rising from 56% to 99%.

“I came to see the reality of the Bru people, and I am leaving with full satisfaction that a new dawn has come in their lives. You are Indians, and you are now part of the mainstream,” he said.

Tripura CM Manik Saha expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Modi and Shah for solving the Bru migrants’ displacement issue.

“A total of 12 locations were set up for resettling the Bru migrants, with work completed at 11 locations. As per the agreement, 1,754 acres of land were provided, and 6,935 families, totaling 37,584 people, were resettled with power, drinking water, brick-paved roads, ration shops, and anganwadis,” Saha said.