40 per cent of budget funds kept for tribal welfare in Tripura, says CM

Agartala, Nov 7 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said that his government has kept 40 per cent of the total budgetary outlay during the 2025-26 financial year for tribal welfare.

The state's budget for the current fiscal stands at Rs 32,000 crore.

While speaking at a progamme at Chailengta in Dhalai district on Thursday, the chief Minister said the development of the northeastern state is not possible without upliftment of the tribal people.

"Driven by this reality, the state government has kept over 40 per cent of the budget for tribal area development during the 2025-26 financial year. The government is also focusing on skill development of the tribal, especially the resettled Bru people," he said.

Several thousand Bru families, who were living in Tripura since late 1990s because of ethnic violence in their home state Mizoram, were rehabilitated in several districts of this state following an agreement signed in 2020.

"Under the PM Kaushalya Yojana and Mukhyamantri Dakkhata Yojana, the government provides skill training to these Bru people," the chief minister said.

Saha said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during a visit to a Bru resettled village in Ambassa, had asserted that providing houses, water, and other benefits would not be enough for sustainable livelihood for them.

"The Skill Development Department is providing training to them. The Bru people have said that they are happy and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We must provide skills to the Bru people to ensure their employment," he said.

The chief minister claimed that no political party or government had raised a voice for a permanent solution to the Bru people for the past 23 years.

"The BJP-led government, on humanitarian grounds, solved their issues by signing an agreement. Our government is with you and working for your development. The government is working to make people self-reliant," he said.

Saha said when the agreement was signed in 2020 for the Bru people, a series of talks were held, and finally they were resettled in 12 locations in the northeastern state.

"We have provided toolkits to 895 people and driving licences to 200, for which Rs 1.45 crore was spent," he said.

Earlier, the chief minister distributed toolkits for skilled Bru candidates and virtually inaugurated new buildings of a school and several government departments. PTI PS NN