Agartala, Sep 5 (FN Agency) A week after the announcement of Rs 1300 Cr for development of tribal areas and indigenous people of Tripura by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her maiden visit to Tripura, the central government has released the first installment of the package of Rs 493 Cr to the state, said Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. He pointed out that Sitharaman was impressed by the initiative of Tripura government especially for development of tribal and her package was targeted to uplift the indigenous livelihoods and infrastructural development of the tribal areas and the amount released in the first installment would be spent on specific projects.
Appreciating the central government Deb said during the finance minister’s stay in Tripura, her ministry had cleared two projects worth of Rs 21 Cr last week, which included widening of state highways at the cost of Rs 14.15 Cr and another Rs 7.4 Cr for maintenance work of the infrastructure in the capital city. “This kind of development and progress are possible in Tripura only due to the double engine government and the state government nourishes the track of development in every sphere of the society irrespective of political affiliations,” Deb claimed adding that his government is committed to fulfill all the poll promises before going for election in 2023. After review the pandemic situation and vaccination in the North-Eastern states at Guwahati, Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has released an amount of Rs 93.02 Cr for Tripura followed by union rural development minister Giriraj Singh sanctioned 1.59 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural) Scheme, Deb added.
He mentioned that central government has agreed to bring all the Bru displaced families who were being resettled in 14 selected spots of Tripura under Antodaya Anna Yojana based on the last economic census where 6,959 total Bru families out of a total population of 37,136 were considered for the benefit. “I raised the issue of the livelihood of thousands of Bru people who are being settled in Tripura permanently and have apprised the Union Home Minister about the progress of works and what is left so far,” Deb claimed. Under the scheme, the families will get 35 kg rice at a price of Rs 2 per kg. Apart from that, they will get 5 kgs of rice per head additional.