Shivraj Singh Chouhan government is spending Rs 23 crore for this programme (File)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bhopal next week as Madhya Pradesh celebrates its tribal warriors. The Prime Minister will be in the state capital city for four hours and on the stage for 1 hour 15 minutes, for which five domes are being built. The state government is spending more than Rs 23 crore for the event, out of which Rs 13 crore will be spent only for transporting people to the programme to be held at Jamboree Maidan.
Madhya Pradesh will celebrate Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas in memory of Bhagwan Birsa Munda on November 15. PM Modi will address the gathering and will also dedicate the country's first public private partnership-built Habibganj railway station at Jamboori Maidan in the city.
The Union cabinet had also decided that as part of the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, week-long programmes will be organised nationally from November 15 to 22 to commemorate the contributions of Birsa Munda as well as other tribal freedom fighters.
The sprawling venue of the Jamboree Maidan is likely to see two lakh tribals from across Madhya Pradesh and the entire venue is being decorated with tribal art and pictures of tribal legends.
More than 300 workers have been engaged in this work for a week. Big pandals have also been built for the tribals.
Over Rs 12 crore for is transportation, food and lodging of people coming from 52 districts and over Rs 9 crore is for five domes, tents, decoration and publicity. There are 47 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in the state. The BJP won 29 in 2008; in 2013 the figure increased by 31, but in 2018 out of 47 BJP got only 16 seats.
As per National Crime Record Bureau or NCRB data, Madhya Pradesh has reported the highest number of cases of atrocities against Scheduled Tribes at 2,401. In 2019, this figure was 1,922, while in 2018 it was at 1,868. In the duration of two years, the state has shown a jump of 28 per cent in atrocities against tribal people.
The Habibganj railway station has been developed under a PPP at a cost of around Rs 450 crore. The station is on the same lines as Germany's Heidelberg railway station. The revamp of the station was launched in July 2016 and work took off in 2017 with a three-year deadline. The modern station will have several features such as segregation of passengers based on arrivals and departures, enough sitting arrangement at platforms, lounges, concourse as well as dormitories and resting rooms.
The railway station will also provide glimpses of world heritage sites such as the Sanchi Stupa, Bhojpur temple, Bhimbetka, Birla Mandi, Tawa Dam and the Tribal Museum. Project director Md. Abu Asif said It is the first project of Indian Railways built on PPP mode. There will be a food zone, kids' zone, entertainment zone and retail zone in the station.
Though many leaders of the BJP including Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur has demanded renaming of Habibganj railway station after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, sources have said the state government has recommended the name of Gond ruler Rani Kamalapati to the centre.
Madhya Pradesh has the largest tribal population in India.