Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched welfare projects worth ₹6,600 crore for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) at a function at Ballopur in Khaira block of Jamui district, Bihar, on the occasion of the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas (Tribal Pride Day).

Modi also kicked off year-long celebrations to mark the beginning of the 150th birth year of tribal leader and freedom fighter Bhagwan Birsa Munda in whose memory the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas is celebrated. The Prime Minister issued a commemorative silver coin of ₹150 and a postal stamp of ₹5 on him on the occasion.

Recounting famous tribal leaders who participated in the Freedom Movement, Modi said: “We need to understand the need for the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas. It is an honest effort to undo a great injustice in our history and the role of the tribes in the freedom of our country. There was an attempt to erase their contribution after the Independence because of selfish politicsand to give credit to a single family for it.”

Speaking at the Tribal Pride Day function, Modi stressed the approval of 1.5 lakh pucca houses for the people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, schools, health facilities, hundreds of kilometres of roads in tribal areas, museums, research centres and handing over of pucca houses to 11,000 tribal families.

Modi added that the forest laws had been relaxed, and the minimum support price was now provided for 90 types of forest produce, increased from just 10 previously.