Bhopal: PM Narendra Modi will be in Bhopal next week for four hours as Madhya Pradesh celebrates its tribal warriors. Madhya Pradesh will celebrate Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas in memory of Bhagwan Birsa Munda November 15.
The MP government is spending more than ₹ 23 crore for the event, out of which ₹ 13 crore will be spent only for transporting people to the programme to be held at Jamboree Maidan.
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 ₹ 12 crore for is transportation, food and lodging of people coming from 52 districts and over ₹ 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.
The Habibganj railway station has been developed under a PPP at a cost of around ₹ 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.