Mansukh Vasava, a five-time parliamentarian and a leading tribal leader from Gujarat, slammed the Union and Gujarat governments after he was dropped from the Union Cabinet following a reshuffle on Tuesday. Mr. Vasava, who represents Bharuch in the Lok Sabha, was inducted as the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs in 2014.
“I do not know why I was dropped…I will seek clarity from the high command but I can tell you that I worked in a very hostile environment,” Mr. Vasava said. “I tried to bring transparency in the way the tribal development ministry functioned, but unfortunately I received no support in this direction. The government needs to do a lot in tribal areas.”
He also attacked the State government headed by Anandiben Patel.
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“A few months ago, I had written to the Chief Minister regarding the pathetic conditions of schools and missing teachers in tribal areas of Gujarat, but I got no response,” he said.
"At that time, I had stated in my letter that if the issued he raised were not addressed immediately, he would resign from the government. The education in tribal areas in Gujarat is pathetic. No permanent teachers in schools and teachers for mathematics, English and Science are missing in most of the tribal schools," he said adding "Gujarat is the worst state in tribal education. Despite my letter to the CM, there was no response from the state government," the sacked minister said.