SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, Nov. 14: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, unlike Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao, will play a perfect host when Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives here on a two-day visit late in the evening today.
According to sources, Soren will not only receive Modi at the airport but also accompany him in all the programmes supposed to be attended by the prime minister. “Generally, the chief minister only receives the prime minister at the airport under the set protocol. But Soren will also accompany him in his motorcade when Modi holds a 10 km road show from the airport to the Raj Bhawan where Modi will stay for the night,” said an official.
Soren is also scheduled to accompany Modi when he visits the Birsa Munda museum in Ranchi, before leaving for Ulihatu, the birthplace of Birsa Munda, tomorrow. He will also share a dais with the prime minister in Khunti where he is scheduled to launch Rs 24K crore schemes for the holistic development of over 7 lakh families of ‘particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG)’ in the country. Soren will also address the public meeting for 10 minutes ahead of Modi in Khunti.
Not only that. The Jharkhand Government has put up hoardings welcoming the prime minister en route to the Raj Bhawan from the airport and also to the Birsa Munda museum. Besides, the chief minister has deployed senior bureaucrats to monitor all the venues to be visited by the prime minister during his two-day stay. Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh held a meeting with top officials for two hours at the Project Building on Diwali day to take stock of the preparations.
But then, the red carpet rolled out for Modi by Hemant Soren has taken everyone by surprise. For, Soren, embroiled in corruption cases, happens to be a key member of the I.N.D.I.A. alliance and running the government with the support of Congress and the RJD. Besides, he has been a vocal critic of the Central government led by Modi, alleging it harassed him for being an Adivasi CM by misusing the ED/CBI.
Notably, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee often avoids attending the meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There was a huge controversy in 2021 when Modi visited Kolkata to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Yaas in 2021.
She met PM Modi for a short period citing she had to meet other state officials regarding cyclone Yaas. Even Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay was late to the meeting by almost half an hour.
In April this year, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao neither attended PM Modi’s event in Hyderabad nor received him at the Begumpet Airport. According to a news report, the Telangana chief minister avoided receiving PM Modi on four other occasions in just the last 14 months.
JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya, however, said that there is no need to read much into the steps taken by the Jharkhand government to welcome the prime minister. “It is the protocol. Moreover, it is part of the tribal culture to pay respect to enemies too, when they visit their home,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, Modi is scheduled to launch a Rs 24,000-crore scheme aimed at the holistic development of ‘particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG)’ at a programme in Khunti after paying homage to tribal icon Bhagwan Birsa Munda on his birth anniversary — observed as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ since 2021. Modi will be the first PM to visit Munda’s birthplace Ulihatu.
Modi will also launch the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ to ensure saturation of flagship government schemes. The launch of the ‘PM PVTG Mission’ which was announced in the budget of 2023-24 is being cited as a big step towards the empowerment of these tribal groups. There are 75 PVTGs in 18 states and Union territories living in 22,544 villages (220 districts) having a population of around 28 lakhs.
The ‘Sankalp Yatra’ will focus on reaching out to people and creating awareness, providing benefits of welfare schemes and enrolment of potential beneficiaries. The yatra will start from districts with a significant tribal population and by January 25 cover all districts across the country.
All the governors and chief ministers are supposed to be connected online for flagging off the yatra simultaneously.
The PMO statement said Modi will also release the 15th installment of PM-KISAN (about Rs 18,000 crores) to more than eight crore beneficiaries and inaugurate, dedicate, and lay the foundation stone of projects worth around Rs 7,200 crore in the state across multiple sectors including rail, road, education, coal, petroleum and natural gas. Further, the achievement of 100% of railway electrification in Jharkhand will also be dedicated to the nation by the PM, it added.
