BHOPAL: Two villages of the tribal-dominated Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh are set to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. Of the two, his visit to Baiga-tribe-dominated Pakariya, has ushered some development work in the village.
The Prime Minister will first address a mega rally in Lalpur village (around 15 km from Shahdol district headquarters), where he will also unveil the launch of the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission and distribution of one crore Ayushman Bharat cards. Subsequently, he would travel to Pakariya village (7 km from Lalpur village) for an interaction with four tribal groups, before tasting their tribal food.
The interaction, which will take place on hand-knitted traditional tribal cots in a mango orchard of Pakariya village, will see the PM interact with four tribal groups, including village heads of tribal villages, representatives of successful women SHGs, PESA Committee members and kid and teenage players of Football Kranti (a grass-root football revolution ushered on the lines of West Bengal in 1000 villages of Shahdol, Umaria and Anuppur districts).
The PM’s visit was initially scheduled for June 27, but got deferred (on June 26) to July 1, owing to the possibility of heavy rains. The visit has boosted development in the Pakariya village, whose 20-strong gram panchayat comprises 13 women members, including the sarpanch and the deputy sarpanch – all of whom had been elected unopposed.
The village, which till a few days ago only had kutcha road, has been redone with cement and concrete roads that connect it with the Jaitpura-Burhar highway. The village’s electricity supply infrastructure too, has been boosted with a new and high powered transformer, new wire-lines and installation of new electricity meters in many houses – all due to the PM’s visit.
The same village, which has its women residents running PDS shops and other businesses, also has been ushered in with new water pipelines and water tanks and drinking water taps. Also, the Anganwadi Center in the village has undergone a face lift. “We’ve better road connecting the village to the highway, new electricity wire-line and poles and new drinking water taps in the village. The visit by Modiji has brought in all these facilities to our village. We’ll definitely go to meet and hear him,” said Pagariya residents Mahesh Baiga and Sumitra Baiga.
Importantly, the PM’s visit to the two tribal dominated villages of the region, which predominantly houses Gond, Baiga and Kol tribe population is not only being seen among political quarters as an effort by the BJP to reach out to the tribal groups in Mahakoshal and Vindhya region of BJP-ruled MP, but also to tribes in the Congress-ruled neighbouring Chhattisgarh, which too will hold assembly polls by the end of 2023.
