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Journalism of Courage
A statement for tribals
In the previousBJP regime,then Home Minister Ram Vichar Netam had hosted an exclusive dinner for all tribal leaders and then been transferred to Revenue. Vetam,Panchayat and Rural Development Minister in the current government,has now staged yet another show of tribal strength with the formation of the worlds first Adivasi Shakti Peeth. At the Peeths first ever function,Netam and Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar spoke about tribal unity Unity is the strength of every community and only a strong community could play a vital role in development. A few tribal legislators of the BJP,too,attended the event. A minister who belongs to the OBC community said the Raman Singh government is under pressure because of large-scale land acquisition of farmland in many districts.
Tour of parents domain
After his padayatra,or foot march,in tribal Bastar region,former Chief Minister Ajit Jogis son,Amit,is embarking on a similar march in Kota and Marwahi Assembly constituencies,represented by his parents,to assess the problems being faced by the farmers of the region. The elder Jogi represents Marwahi constituency,a seat reserved for the scheduled tribes; Renu Jogi is a two-time legislator who represents Kota Assembly constituency. Their son will be accompanied by Youth Congress and National Students Union NSU-I leaders during the programme,which has been named Kissan Satyagrah Yuva Yatra. Congress insiders say that Amit Jogi,a High Court lawyer,has been trying to get noticed before entering electoral politics.
The Animal Husbandry Department,which wanted to make one at least bull available in each of the over 9,000 panchayats,is struggling,having found that there arent quite enough bulls of good stock. In the last four years,the department has managed to procure 3,500 bulls from registered suppliers and has now floated a tender for 500 more. The department has already spent Rs 5 crore in these four years on the scheme,which is aimed at improving the quality of livestock in the state. At present,bulls are being procured from Rajasthan,Haryana and Gujarat. Government officials say that the scheme would continue till bulls are supplied to all panchayats. New bulls will be supplied again after a span of four to five years.
Roads built,rebuilt
As many as 417 roadsconstructed under the Pradhanmantri Gram Sadak Yojana PMGSY in the last seven years have fallen short of fixed quality standards. The authorities have now ordered reconstruction of 27 of these. Under the PMGSY,3,350 roads were constructed during the last three years and many projects were lying incomplete even in the capital district of Raipur and a number of other districts. A PMGSY official,who had stopped payment of contractors due to the poor quality of construction,had faced the wrath of contractors,who went on a strike and staged demonstrations in every district,demanding his removal last year. The government eventually replaced him.
