The Congress party announced its tribal declaration promising reservations for Scheduled Tribes in education and employment in accordance with their population and establishment of separate Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDAs) for the tribal people living in plains if it is voted to power in 2019.
Salient features of the declaration include sanction of tribal university, recruitment of backlog posts, allocation of 10 per cent fund to the SC, ST sub-plan in the general budget, making tribal hamlets as revenue villages and loan waiver up to ₹ 2 lakh at a time for tribal farmers on a par with other farmers and so on.
Announcing the tribal declaration at the Girijana Sadassu here on Tuesday, the TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy accused Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of deceiving tribal people and harassing them by taking back pattas given to them for cultivation of forest land during the Congress rule.
He said the TRS government had diverted ₹10,000 crore from the SC, ST Sub-Plan to other activities. As per the Act, 10 per cent of the general budget should mandatorily be allocated to the Sub-Plan but this government had never done so in the last four years, he said.
Saying that a silent revolution has been underway against the TRS, the PCC president asserted that his party would come to power securing 80 seats out of 119. After forming the government it would set up the Bayyaram Steel Plant which would benefit a large number of tribal people and also sanction ₹3,000 per month for each educated tribal youth until they get jobs.
Opposition leader in the Assembly K. Jana Reddy said that it was the Congress party at the initiative of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who included Banjaras in the ST category and provided reservations in 1976. He said his party contributed so much for the tribal uplift by introducing many schemes.
Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir assured the tribals that his party would stand behind them and protect their rights. Former Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy said that Congress party was always committed to tribal welfare.
Former Union Minister Balram Nayak, former Minister Ravindra Nayak, MLC Akula Lalitha, Ex-MP Suresh Shetkar, Ex-MLA S. Gangaram and other leaders also spoke.
