Survey to ‘improve living conditions’ of tribals near Statue of Unity begins

SOUADTGA is collecting details of familieswho do not have Aadhaar cards, ration cards, gas connection, accommodation, election cards, Maa-Amritam card, drinking water facility and electricity connection. The survey will also identify the elderly, widows, and disabled.

“Efforts have been initiated by the government to provide employment through training schemes and to provide employment kits to the people. This is a bid to bring the tribal population to the mainstream,” a release said on Monday.

The release also stated that the government had initiated a similar survey in Amirgarh taluka of Banaskantha district, in which 30,000 beneficiaries of government schemes were identified in 30 days.

The SOUADTGA also lodged a police complaint at Kevadia police station against a resident of Kothi village for allegedly spreading a fake message that the government had initiated a survey to evict the tribal families.

The complaint, filed by Garudeshwar Taluka Development Officer (TDO) AV Dangi, states, “The message is mischievous and has the capacity to mislead the tribal families into believing that the survey is detrimental to them, which would defeat the purpose of the exercise and cause unnecessary law and order issues in the area. The message states that the government is eyeing the lands of the tribals in the 19 villages to evict them and so the survey should be staunchly opposed.”

Officials of the Kevadia police station said that an investigation is on and they were yet to make any arrest.