‘Bhrasht Janata Party’ sought to dilute Adivasi rights: Jairam Ramesh

Congress accuses Modi Government of diluting tribal rights, poor infrastructure in Jharkhand, and neglecting Adivasi welfare.

The Congress on May 19 claimed that the Modi Government's Forest Conservation Amendment Act had "undid" the progress of the historic Forest Rights Act of 2006 and accused the BJP of diluting tribal rights.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rally in Jharkhand's Jamshedpur.

"Why do the people of Jamshedpur still suffer from poor connectivity? Why is it that the 2As and their tempo-loads of black money roam free, while Jharkhand's Adivasi CM was put in jail? Why is the Adityapur Industrial Area still waiting for environmental clearance? Why has the PM denied Adivasis their religious identity and refused to recognise the Sarna code?" Mr. Ramesh said.

Elaborating on what he said were "jumla details", he said Jamshedpur, despite being an industrial hub, has poor transport connectivity.

The number of trains running to key cities such as Bhagalpur, Bengaluru, and Delhi are inadequate, he said.

The city had a functional airport until 2016 but despite being inducted into the UDAN scheme in 2018, plans for a new airport have failed to materialise, Mr. Ramesh said.

In January 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Jharkhand Government and the Airports Authority of India for the construction of Dhalbhumgarh Airport by December 2022, he said.