E-Paper
'Sex ratio better here': President Kovind praises gender equality among tribals
The President was on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh. Sunday's 'Janjatiya Sammelan' where he delivered his speech was organised by the MP Tribal Welfare Department.
President Ram Nath Kovind while delivering a speech at a state-level tribal meet at Damoh in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday said that the general population has a lot to learn from tribal communities when it comes to gender equality. He said tribal communities do not discriminate on the basis of gender, and hence their male to female sex ratio is better than that of the general population.
"There is no discrimination between men and women, and that is why the sex ratio in these communities was better than the general population," said Kovind.
Kovind said being at the meet especially reminded him of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was born in Madhya Pradesh, and during whose tenure the ministry of tribal affairs was created.
“Born in Madhya Pradesh, former Prime Minister, Bharat-Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji, I am particularly reminded of him today because it was during his tenure as Prime Minister that a separate 'ministry of tribal affairs' was formed in the Central Government,” said the President.
Kovind heralded the tribal communities as guardians and protectors of this country’s natural resources, saying that if they hadn’t protected the wealth of the forest from being exploited by the British, with their courage and valour, exploitation would have occurred on a much larger scale.
The President also talked at length about the various schemes launched by the government in the interest of tribal communities. He praised tribal communities as “storehouse of knowledge” citing the example of the Baiga community, who fall under the 'Special Backward Tribe Group' in Madhya Pradesh, for their knowledge on traditional medicines.
The President was on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh. Sunday's 'Janjatiya Sammelan' where he delivered his speech was organised by the MP Tribal Welfare Department. He had also attended the ‘sandhya aarti’ on the Narmada coast in Jabalpur, on Saturday.
