BJP govt did more work for STs than Oppn did in six decades: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday enumerated government welfare measures undertaken for the empowerment of Scheduled Tribes in the last eight years which, the party said, is much more than what the Opposition did during their nearly six-decade-long rule.

The Modi government has eight members from the community in the council of ministers and they are in a position to lead society and ensure the community gets due support, respect and encouragement, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told a press conference here.

Bhatia said, "It was under the Modi government that the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda would be celebrated every year on November 15. This also creates a feeling in the society that the revered persons of every society are special, who have contributed in the progress of India and in making India an independent country."

"PM Modi emphasized on Eklavya Model Residential School for better education of children of SC/ST society and under this scheme, 452 new schools will be built in next five years and 211 will be refurbished," he said.

He added, "For a better education system of SC/ST students, a provision of Rs 1,100 crore was already made in the first budget right after PM Modi became the Prime Minister. In 2021, the budget was increased from Rs 1,100 crores to 6,000 crores."

Bhatia added that Prime Minister started the Stand Up India scheme. "With the help of this today SC, ST society and women are being provided loan facility," he said.

He added, "Today in the BJP government, eight ministers in the Union Cabinet are from the ST community. The people of the ST community are leading the society and they are ensuring that the needs are met."

"In the last 8 years, the governments before PM Modi, especially the opposition, ignored the interests of scheduled castes, backward classes. If we look at those works, more work was done in the last 8 years than in the earlier 55 years by the Opposition," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )