Asks party MPs to spend a night each in villages where SC/STs make up majority
Four days after the Union government filed a review petition in the Supreme Court on its orders concerning the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked BJP MPs to reach out to villages where 50% or more of the population belonged to these communities.
He was addressing a meeting of the BJP parliamentary party.
Briefing presspersons after the meeting, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said Mr. Modi had elaborated on the fact that there were 20,844 such villages across the country, and “MPs should work to implement welfare-oriented schemes, including Jan Dhan and Ujjwala”. A party MP would spend a night in one such village, while a Minister would spend two nights, Mr. Modi said.
Savitribai Phoole and Chote Lal Kharwar, BJP MPs, had openly dissented against the party over issues related to Dalits.
Taking his outreach to Dalit communities further, Mr. Modi said the party would observe the birth anniversary of Jyotiba Phule, a social reformer from a backward caste, on April 11 as Samta Divas (equality day).
He stressed the need for all MPs to organise events to mark the birth anniversary of Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar on April 14, asserting that it was mandatory for them to do so.
Noting that the party had announced Gram Swaraj Abhiyan between April 14 and May 5, he asked BJP law-makers to ensure total implementation of seven welfare schemes of his government in villages, especially those with populations of over a thousand, sources said.
The party will mark 20 years of the Pokhran nuclear test on May 11.
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