NEW DELHI (The Thursday Times) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on Sunday that India has been freed from Naxalism and Maoist terror, telling a tribal-welfare event that the decades-long insurgency had hurt tribal communities more than anyone else.
Modi spoke by video link to the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas programme in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, held on the 151st birth anniversary of the tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, he inaugurated or laid the foundation stones of 246 development projects worth about ₹3,000 crore, among them 173 completed projects and 73 new ones.
“Nearly 125 districts across the country were affected by Naxalism,” he said, adding that hundreds of violent incidents took place every year and claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people, most of them from tribal communities. He said young people in formerly affected areas were now getting access to education and jobs.
“Light of hope” after Diwali
The Prime Minister recalled spending Diwali a few days ago with security forces in Bastar, in Chhattisgarh, a region he said people once feared to visit. “In all the formerly Naxal-affected areas, including Gadchiroli, this time on Diwali, along with earthen lamps, the light of hope has also reached the people,” he said.
He described the end of Naxalism and the escape of nearly 50 crore people from extreme poverty, citing a recent World Bank report, as the two achievements being discussed across the country, and said both were closely tied to the lives of tribal communities.
Projects and welfare claims
The projects span education, health care, tribal livelihoods, marketing centres for tribal products and rural infrastructure. They include a museum dedicated to the freedom fighter Ropuiliani in Mizoram and a new building for the Tribal Research Institute in Arunachal Pradesh, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Modi also pointed to the government’s tribal-area programmes, saying more than ₹1 lakh crore had been allocated to the PM-JANMAN scheme and the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan. He cited more than four crore houses built for poor families, 18,000 villages electrified, health cover of up to ₹5 lakh under Ayushman Bharat, and more than 1.75 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. These figures are the government’s own and were not independently verified here.
Closing his address, Modi urged citizens to draw inspiration from Birsa Munda and work toward what he called the dream of a Viksit Bharat, or developed India. Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas has been marked on November 15 since 2021 and, the Prime Minister said, has grown into a national festival.
