Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
FLAGGING OFF several infrastructure projects for Santhal Pargana, a backward tribal region in Jharkhand, PM Narendra Modi Thursday said this was perhaps the first time since Independence that so many development programmes have been initiated in a single day in the region. Addressing a gathering at Sahibganj Police Lines, Modi said, “Development is the only way we can change the situation in Santhal Pargana.”
Modi laid the foundation for a bridge on the Ganga, which will connect Sahibganj with Manihari (at Katihar in eastern Bihar), and the multi-modal transport (MMT) hub, which is a part of National Waterway-1. The Prime Minister also inaugurated a 311-km state highway project from Govindpur in Dhanbad to Sahibganj.
Santhal Paragana is politically significant for the BJP in Jharkhand, as the region is considered a stronghold of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the main Opposition party for the BJP-led government in the state. Thursday’s programme came only three days before by-elections in Littipara Assembly constituency in neighbouring Pakur district. While the event had been planned earlier, the bypoll became necessary after the death of Littipara’s MLA, Anil Murmu of the JMM, in January.
The JMM called Thursday’s event a violation of the election code since the area is part of Raj Mahal Lok Sabha constituency, of which Littipara is an Assembly segment. The JMM had complained to the EC but the commission did not intervene. At Sahibganj, the Prime Minister handed over appointment letters to several members of the Pahariya tribe, a primitive tribal group, and symbolically gave away a few smartphones to the heads of women’s tribal self-help groups (SHGs).
The PM exhorted the people to welcome Pahariya groups. “These people are (more) backward than other tribal communities…. They are (now) getting integrated with the mainstream,” Modi said.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
