Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah addresses the 'Janjati Sanskritik Samagam' in New Delhi on the 150th birth anniversary year of Bhagwan Birsa Munda

📌 Summary:

• Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah addressed the 'Janjati Sanskritik Samagam' in New Delhi as Chief Guest, held during the 150th birth anniversary year of the tribal icon Bhagwan Birsa Munda

• He recalled Birsa Munda's 'Ulgulan' movement that humbled the British, and the tribal worldview in which water, forests and mountains are central to faith, livelihood and identity — describing tribal practices as the greatest sustainable model

• On the Uniform Civil Code (UCC): he asserted that no UCC provision will be imposed on tribal communities or infringe their rights, noting that the UCC implemented in Gujarat and Uttarakhand made special provisions to keep all tribal communities outside its purview

• He stated that Naxalism — which, he said, had claimed more than 40,000 tribal lives over five decades — has been eliminated, and that 70 former anti-Naxal security camps have been converted into 'Shaheed Veer Gundadhur Seva Dera' public service centres

• On tribal welfare spending: he said the Centre's tribal welfare budget rose from Rs 28,000 crore to Rs 1.5 lakh crore — a roughly five-fold increase

• On the PESA Act: a PESA Cell has been set up, more than one lakh master trainers trained, PESA rules translated into tribal languages (Santhali, Gondi, Bhili, Mundari), and a PESA Gram Panchayat Development Plan portal created for real-time monitoring; Madhya Pradesh's PESA model was cited as ideal

• He highlighted tribal empowerment milestones — Smt. Droupadi Murmu (from a Santhal family) as President, tribal Chief Ministers in Odisha and Chhattisgarh — and welfare measures including 722 Eklavya Model Schools, housing, electricity, tap water, health insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh and monthly food ration for tribal families

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS1 — tribal society, identity and culture; GS2 — the PESA Act and tribal self-governance, the UCC and special constitutional protections for Scheduled Tribes; GS1 History — Birsa Munda and the Ulgulan (Munda) rebellion.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Bhagwan Birsa Munda led the 'Ulgulan' (Great Tumult / Munda Rebellion) against British rule; 2025-26 marks his 150th birth anniversary year
• PESA = the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, which extends Panchayati Raj provisions to Fifth Schedule areas
• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs was created during the tenure of PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee
• Smt. Droupadi Murmu, India's first tribal President, belongs to the Santhal community
• Eklavya Model Residential Schools serve tribal students; 722 such schools were cited

🔑 Key Term: PESA Act, 1996 — the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, which extends the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution (Panchayats) to Fifth Schedule (tribal) areas, empowering Gram Sabhas in tribal self-governance.