In Tripura, PM Modi reiterates Centre's move to strengthen autonomous council of tribal

In a bid to woo the tribal community ahead of the coming Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that his government has not only taken steps to strengthen the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), but would further ensure its self-reliance and adequate staff strength.

"Our government at the Centre has taken a step forward to fulfill the long-pending demand of strengthening the autonomous council (TTAADC). With the amendment in the law, we not only wish to make the council self-dependent but also want to increase the number of officers in the council," Prime Minister Modi said after inaugurating Garjee-Belonia railway line.

Recently, the Union Cabinet approved a Constitutional amendment to increase the powers of the autonomous councils in the northeastern states, namely, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya, which in all have 25 Lok Sabha seats at stake.

TTAADC was constituted under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council Bill, 1979 was unanimously passed by the Tripura Legislative Assembly on March 23, 1979. The Council has 30-members, and takes care of administrative and development needs of the people under its jurisdiction.

Stating that the Central government's interim Budget presented recently in the Lok Sabha has taken care of every section of the society, Prime Minister Modi said: "I have been told that within 11 months, more than 2 lakh new gas connections have been given. Over 20,000 houses and more than 1.25 lakh toilets have been constructed. Our schemes are raising the living conditions of the poor people today."

Hitting out at the previous governments in Tripura, Prime Minister Modi assured the people that the BJP government was committed to the growth and development of the state.

Prime Minister Modi said: "In the last four and a half years, the Central government granted a lot of funds for Tripura but the earlier government did not do any work. But our government is committed to the growth and development of Tripura."

"Tripura, the state that was deprived of development on the pretext of being a landlocked region, is now being made the gateway to southeast Asia," he said.

Talking about development projects in the state, Prime Minister Modi said: "For the first time in Tripura, paddy was procured as per the minimum support price (MSP). Besides this, the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission were also implemented."

He said the infrastructure projects inaugurated on Saturday in the state were a reflection of the HIRA model. "I talked about the HIRA-Highway, I-way, Railway, Airway-model when I visited the state last time during the Assembly elections. All the infrastructure projects inaugurated today are a reflection of the HIRA model.