RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, May 25: President Droupadi Murmu today lamented that most of the chief ministers in Jharkhand during the last 22 years were tribals, yet there is no expected progress in the State.
“Jharkhand could not develop to the extent it should have developed in the last 22 years despite the tribal being chief minister most of the time and 28 tribals being members of the house,” she pointed out while holding a dialogue with over 25000 tribal women members of various self-help groups at Birsa Munda stadium in Khunti, some 40 km from here.
But at the same time, she expressed her pleasure for Arjun Munda from Khunti parliamentary constituency being the union tribal affairs minister and Joba Manjhi from a constituency close to Khunti being the State’s women and child development minister.
Murmu asked the developed tribals to take care of their individual social responsibility. She expressed her exception to the habit of people forgetting their tradition, culture and society after getting success in their life or after achieving something and suggested these people to take care of those who are behind them in their society.
‘Jo Aage Badhte Hain Unhe Piche Dekhna Chahiye. After Dhan se nahi to man or tan se sahayta karni Chahiye,” she said.
She, on the occasion, stressed upon the need of protecting tradition and culture saying if this is not done there is possibility of getting disappeared in the crowd of people.
The first lady connected herself with Jharkhand saying her grandmother belonged to the family of women and child development minister of Jharkhand Joba Manjhi and it is the result of the blessings of the land she got opportunity to serve the state as governor and then entire country as President.
Expressing her pleasures with the work of self-help group members working on their core competency to become self-dependent and earn more than expectation, the President remembered the days when she used to collect Mahua on the instruction of her grandmother without having proper idea to preserve it.
“I am happy Mahua is being used to prepare laddu and several costly items. When I used to collect Mahua, it worth hardly Paise 20 to 25 per kg and preserving it for a long time was difficult. It was used in case of food crisis,” she remembered.
President Murmu said that after visiting several parts of the country she experienced that tribal women are fast developing and receiving Padma awards and there is no field in which they have not marked their presence by good performance. She mentioned Simdega as a nursery of hockey and named several hockey players including Salima Tete from there.
She asked tribal women to take benefit of the government schemes saying ‘if government moves 100 steps towards you, you should also move at least 10 steps towards it.’
“The government apart from giving food, clothes and house, also gives skill development training and imparts education. Take benefit of that also,” she said.
During her speech she compared Dombariburu of Khunti with Jailanwala Bagh of Punjab saying “Jaliawala type incident took place 25 years before Jailanwala Bagh in Domabariburu,” she said while remembering sacrifice of tribal icon Birsa Munda.
Those present on the occasion included Jharkhand governor C.P Radhakrishnan, chief minister Hemant Soren, tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda, MLAs Neelkant Singh Munda, Joba Manjhi and former Lok Sabha deputy speaker Karia Munda besides senior bureaucrats and police officers
President Murmu openly criticised the dowry system and expressed her pleasure over freedom of Jharkhand from this wrong social custom.
“It is a matter of pride that there is no dowry system among tribals unlike many well educated society. Dowry is devil. I am happy this system does not prevail in the tribal society,” she said.