The Central government has set a goal of ensuring basic infrastructure in every tribal village in the country, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda has said.
He was here to participate in the 100 years celebration of the Rampa Rebellion that was led by freedom fighter Alluri Sitharama Raju, here at Chintapalli in Alluri Sitharama Raju district, on Monday. The programme was organised by Andhra and Telangana Kshatriya Seva Samithi.
Speaking at the programme, he said that adivasis have always put self-respect above all and this was one of the main reasons why Alluri had led the rebellion against British rule.
The programme was organised to commemorate the 100 years of the raid of Chintapalli Police Station that was led by Alluri. This was the starting point of the Rampa Rebellion. Later, Alluri and his rebels had raided many police stations in the Agency areas of undivided East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts.
Jal, Jameen aur Jungle
Referring to the pristine environment of Chintapalli and the Agency area, Mr. Munda said, “I hail from the village Birsa Munda, another tribal freedom fighter. Chintapalli reminds me of my village.”
Mr. Munda pointed out that apart from Narendra Modi, no other Prime Minister has recognised the contribution of Alluri Sitarama Raju in this fitting manner. Mr. Modi has recently inaugurated a 30-foot statue of Alluri in Bhimavaram to commemorate the latter’s 125th birth anniversary.
He pointed out that the Centre was committed to protecting the basic tenet of tribal culture ‘Jal, Jameen aur Jungle’ (water, land and forest).
The Union Minister suggested that the State government should set up archery training centres in all tribal residential schools. “Tribals are born archers. This sport can be encouraged from a very young age at these schools. The State government should take initiatives in this regard,” he said.
In 2014, the Centre had launched tribal residential schools and 740 such schools have been set up across the country so far, benefiting a large number of tribal students, said Mr. Munda.
The Forest Rights Act was implemented to protect the interests of tribals and help them seeking recourse to solve their issues. He advised the tribals to protect trees, land and hills.
The Union Minister said that efforts were on to improve the earnings in the tribal villages.
Union Minister of Culture and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy, who also took part in the celebrations, said that the Centre had recognised the contribution of Gam Gantam Dora, who had assisted Alluri in the rebellion, and house sites were provided to 11 families belonging to the Gantam Dora family tree. “A two-bedroom house will be built for them in each plot soon,” he said.
He said Alluri’s achievements would also be celebrated in Karnataka and New Delhi.
Stone laid for memorial
The Union Ministers unveiled a statue of Alluri at Chintapalli. Mr. Munda laid the foundation stone in virutal mode for restoration of the police station building in Chintapalli that was raided by Alluri. He also virtually laid the stone for a memorial at Mampa in Koyyurru mandal where Alluri was captured by the British and another memorial at Rajendrapalem in Koyyuru mandal where he was shot dead.
Interacting with the media at Visakhapatnam airport, Mr. Kishan Reddy cleared the air on the meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and actor Junior NTR. “It was only a courtesy meet. They did not discuss anything about politics. The talks revolved around cinema only,” he said.
Mr. Shah expressed that he was eager for a dinner meeting with the actor and he enquired about his grandfather and TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao (NTR senior), mr. Kishan Reddy said.
Deputy Chief Minister P. Rajanna Dora, Araku MP G. Madhavi, MLAs K. Bhagyalakshmi and Chetti Palguna, Collector Sumit Kumar, Superintendent of Police Satish Kumar, ITDA Project Officer Ronanki Gopalkrishna and the members of Andhra and Telangana Kshatriya Seva Samithi were present on the occasion.
