“Congress neglected tribal youth, children”: PM Modi in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua

Jhabua: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the Congress “did not care” about the tribal youth and children despite being in power for many years.

PM Modi said this while addressing a ‘Jan Jatiya Mahasabha’ in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district.

“Congress ruled for so many years, and they got a chance to work, but only 100 Ekalavya schools were opened…The BJP government has opened four times more Ekalavya schools in the past ten years,” PM Modi said.

“It is not acceptable to Modi if even a single tribal child is left behind due to a lack of education. Our tribal society has been earning its living from forest wealth for thousands of years,” PM Modi added.

Lashing out at Congress, PM Modi said, “During the Congress rule, legal safeguards were put on the rights of the tribals. By making changes to the Forest Property Law, our government returned the rights related to forest land to the tribal society.”

“For so many years, sickle cell anaemia was killing hundreds of people every year in tribal families. Congress ran the government both at the Centre and in the states for so many years, but they did not care about the tribal youth and children who died untimely deaths…,” PM Modi said.

An official statement in January said that more than 1 crore people have been screened for sickle cell disease under the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission.

Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disease that affects the whole life of the affected patient. It is more common in the tribal population of India but occurs in non-tribals too.

The National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1, 2023, in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a road show in Jhabua.

People gathered on both sides of the road, showered petals on the PM, and chanted slogans as the Prime Minister greeted them on his way to the venue of his public rally in Jhabua.

The visit assumes significance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections just a few months away.

During the roadshow, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav accompanied the PM.

Before holding the roadshow, PM Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various developmental projects worth Rs 7,500 crore at Jhabua.

The projects will benefit the significant tribal population of the region, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in an official statement.