Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah paid tributes to the great patriot King Shankar Shah and his son Kunwar Raghunath Shah in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh today. Shri Amit Shah also participated in the ceremony to honour Tribal Heroes organized under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation also performed Bhumi Pujan of the museum to be built at a cost of Rs. 5 crore in the memory of King Shankar Shah and Kunwar Raghunath Shah and inaugurated a photo exhibition based on tribal heroes. He also released an album focusing on tribal heroes in the Freedom Struggle. Several dignitaries including Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister of State for Steel Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste and Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel were also present on the occasion.
On this occasion, Shri Amit Shah said that today he has come here to pay homage to the immortal patriot King Shankar Shah and KunwarRaghunath Shah during Amrit Mahotsav. On this day in 1857, the duo of father and son made the supreme sacrifice to rid Mother India from shackles of slavery. He said one cannot imagine the day when father and son were killed by British with a cannon, how much sadness and anger would have been in the minds of the people here and the patriots of the country. Shri Shah said but there was no sadness on the faces of father and son. While praising Maa Durga and praying for a rebirth to serve Mother India again, both became immortals. Due to their supreme sacrifice, we are having freedom for the past 75 years. Our freedom revolution that started in 1857 ended on 15 August 1947.
The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation said that in the last 75 years, different people have worked to take the country forward, but this year, the popular leader and Prime Minister of the country, Shri NarendraModi, has taken a pledge that we will celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and work to revive the memory and sacrifice of such unsung martyrs because their names are not there in the history. He said that when he came to know that for writing a poem, someone is tied to cannon and killed, then he felt curiosto come here and he came to this holy land and since then there is a special place in his heart for the brave father and son. Shri Amit Shah said that today he is feeling fortunate to have laid the foundation of the memorial that the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to build.
Shri Amit Shah said that in many districts and states across the country, there are many such brave martyrs who did not get a mention and due respect in the history. He said that would the young generation of any country want to forget those martyrs who made supreme sacrifice for the country? Shri Shah said that we would never want this and therefore during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we will work to revive the spirit of the known and unknown martyrs and freedom fighters and imbibe it in minds and hearts of our young generation, and that is why the Prime Minister has decided to celebrate the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of and Cooperation said many people ask that what is Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. He said that Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is to instill sense of patriotism in new generation, connecting the young generation with India’s glory, taking a resolve to make India world leader and ensuring that 130 crore Indians get equal rights by raising their standard of living and that everyone is connected with the sense of Constitution. He said that creating awareness in every citizen towards duty and creating a resolve of an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat in the minds of every Indian is Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Shri Amit Shah said that he has come to touch the holy soil of this land which is rich in customs where Raghunath Shah and Shankar Shah made their sacrifice and he exuded confidence that this memorial and sacrifices of father-son will continue to inspire not only the local youth but the youth of the country for thousands of years to come. Shri Shah said that this is the land of Rani Durgavati, who made supreme sacrifice for the country while fighting the Mughals. He said that the Prime Minister has taken up an important task of keeping the sacrifices of all known and unknown heroes from 1947 till date, before the youth of the country in the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, whereas those who wrote the history of the Freedom Movement ignored tribal warriors. He proudly said that the sacrifices made by the tribal leaders for the country’s independence from 1857 to 1947 were forgotten by the previous governments, kept them anonymous, and that is why Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has ensured that they get the respect they deserved and the new generation can know about them.
In his address, Shri Amit Shah remembered Lord Birsa Munda and said that who can forget such people. He said that many heroes like Jawahar Singh Bundela, Madhukar Shah, Dhillon Shah, Shivendra Shah, Hirendra Shah, Himmat Singh Gond and Bhav Singh Gond had led the freedom fighters and continued the freedom struggle, that is why our popular Prime Minister has decided to build tribal museums across the country. Through this, information about tribal leaders will be given to the youth of the country and these museums will be made by reviving their history by finding the brave leaders from every corner who sacrificed everything for freedom. These museums will be built at a cost of Rs 200 crore at nine places including Gujarat, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Manipur and Mizoram. Shri Shah said that the Modi government is committed for the welfare of the tribes. He said that talking about tribal welfare in the speech and putting it on the ground are two different things. This was happening earlier that many promises for the development of tribes were made. Shri Narendra Modi took several steps and Shri Shivraj Chouhan has taken a new initiative to give rights to the tribals. After becoming the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has doubled the annual budget for tribes from Rs.4,200 crores in 2013-14 to Rs.7,900 crores in the year 2021-22. There was a budget of Rs 21,500 crore for different departments in 2013-14 and now after Shri Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, it was increased to Rs 78,900 crore in the budget of 2021-22, which is almost 4 times.
The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation said that if the child gets good education, then he will be able to know the duties under the Constitution. It is very difficult to go to school from a tribal village and by understanding this, the Modi government has built a residential school in every block by adopting Eklavya Residential Model School. So far around 160 Eklavya Residential Schools have been sanctioned. Shri Shah also told that Tribal Research Institute was established with the vision of Shri Narendra Modi.
Shri Amit Shah said that tribal people work hard throughout and when they go to sell their produce, they did not get anything. Earlier, only 10 products were covered in 9 states but today the Modi government has initiated purchase of 49 products on MSP instead of 10 products in all states. Earlier, coal was extracted from the mine but nothing was done for the development of the area and now Shri Narendra Modi has decided that under the District Mineral Fund a certain part would be spent for tribal development which would be under the District Collector and under this, Rs. 51,000 crore has been set aside for the development of tribal areas in 5 years. Scholarships worth Rs.2,000 crore will be given to 33 lakh students and work is also being done to set up a sports university in Manipur. Referring to the various works done by the State Government, Shri Shah said that the Madhya Pradesh government is doing a lot of commendable work for tribal development.
The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation said that his party’s government, whether at the center or in the state, always tries to work for the underprivileged and it is a government dedicated to the welfare of the tribes. Welfare schemes have also been made in this government in such a way that no one should have any hesitation in accepting them and can accept these with pride. Shri Narendra Modi has provided houses to forest dwellers, tribals, electricity, toilets have been given, Prime Minister’s Health Card worth Rs. 5 lakh has been given and work is also being done to provide pure drinking water. Modi government is doing everything possible to ensure that the standard of living of tribal society is raised and they can live with pride in society. Shri Shah said that under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, our government in every state is committed and dedicated for the welfare of the tribals. Shri Amit Shah requested the people to not pay heed to those who are making efforts to divide tribal society and that the country can only be developed by uniting tribals and the whole society.
