Prime Minister Modi Slams Congress for ‘Ignoring’ Tribals, Inaugurates World-Class Railway Station Rani Kamlapati

BHOPAL / In a mega tribal convention, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded their contribution to Indian culture and nation-building and slammed the Congress for ignoring Adivasis during its regime as he dedicated to the nation a revamped world-class railway station in Bhopal renamed after community icon ‘Rani Kamlapati’.

Addressing a mega tribal convention at Jamboori maidan in Bhopal of Madhya Pradesh, Modi said that the contribution of tribal society to the freedom struggle was being honoured now and efforts were being made to ensure the development of regions that were remained backward during the previous governments.

During the visit to the state capital, Modi also inaugurated the Habibganj railway station, which has been renamed after Rani Kamlapati, the first Gond tribe queen of Bhopal and the last empress of the then town Gunnorgarh.

Madhya Pradesh government celebrated the Janjatiya Gaurav Divas to mark the birth anniversary on 15 November, of the tribal leader of the freedom struggle, Birsa Munda.

“Tribals were not given their dues by the earlier governments and they were deprived of basic facilities,” the PM said. “Bhagwan Birsa Munda”s birth anniversary will be celebrated every year on 15 November as the ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ in the country like Like Mahatma Gandhiji, Sardar Patel and Ambedkar Jayantis”, announced the Prime Minister.

Development is now taking place in 112 aspirational districts which remained backward during the earlier regimes, Modi said.

MP’s tribal district Barwani, one of the aspirational districts under the programme, has performed excellently in the fields of agriculture and water resources among the other districts of the country as it has secured a good rank in the August and September months. NITI Aayog has recently allocated additional Rs 3 crore to the district.
Barwani has received this honour due to efforts made by the collector of the district, Shivraj Singh especially focusing on the tribal welfare schemes of the state and central governments.

“India is celebrating the first ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’ after Independence, adding the tribals’ art and culture, and their contribution to the freedom struggle and nation-building is being remembered with pride”, the PM said.

The country cannot forget the bravery of Gond queen Durgawati and the sacrifice of Rani Kamlapati, he said. The struggle of Veer Maharana Pratap cannot be imagined without the brave Bhil tribe who fought shoulder to shoulder and made sacrifices, Modi said.
“The previous regimes have committed a crime by ignoring the tribal icons and their contribution. The contribution of the tribal society was either not told to the country and even if told, very limited information was given,” Modi said.

The PM hailed MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for taking several significant initiatives for the welfare of tribals. On the occasion, CM Chouhan also addressed the convention and thanked PM for announcing the Janjatiya Gaurav Divas as a national celebration and hounouring respect to the last Hindu queen of Bhopal as renaming Habibganj railway station after hers.

Modi launched multiple initiatives for the welfare of the tribal community, including the ‘Ration Aapke Gram (ration at your village)’ scheme in Madhya Pradesh.

Modi also handed over genetic counseling cards to beneficiaries, marking the launch of the Madhya Pradesh Sickle Cell (Hemoglobinopathy) Mission.

The PM also laid the foundation stone of 50 Tribal Eklavya Model Residential Schools across various states and UTs including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tripura and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

Speaking on the inaugural function of the Rani Kamlapati railway station, Modi said, “Such infrastructure and facilities have always been expected by common taxpayers and the middle class. It’s the real honour of the taxpayers. It’s the model of the transformation from VIP culture to EPI, which stands for Every Person is Important.”

On the occasion, BJP state chief V D Sharma presented Amrut Kalash to PM Modi, the Kalash contains soil collected from villages of all 52 districts of the freedom fighters who had laid their lives from 1957 to 1947 of the fifty-two districts to the PM.

The Rani Kamlapati station has been revamped as the most modern station under a public-private partnership (PPP), the first such station in the country. It has been developed with the amenities like an airport, it comes under the jurisdiction of the Western Central Railway, was built in 1905, and then it was known as Shahpur. It was named Habibganj station in 1979 when it was expanded.