Mukutmanipur: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday said his government has asked the Tribal Development department to prepare a special package of Rs 350 crore for developing Adivasi-dominated areas in the state, while accusing the previous TMC dispensation of neglecting their welfare.
The chief minister was addressing a programme at this tourist town of Mukutmanipur in Bankura district on the occasion of Hul Diwas, commemorating the historic 1855 Santhal rebellion against the British Raj.
“We have asked our Tribal Development department to prepare a special package of Rs 350 crore for development of the adivasi areas in the state,” the chief minister said.
Accusing the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government of neglecting the Adivasi people, Adhikari said it had not provided funds for the Paschimanchal Development department, which was established for the progress of the tribal people in the state’s western districts.
Adhikari said that in 2025-26, only Rs 6 crore was spent for various works by the government in 75 blocks in the tribal-majority Jangalmahal area in the western part of the state.
“We have allocated Rs 1,200 crore for the department in the 2026-27 budget,” the chief minister said, asserting that extensive development work will be done in the Jangalmahal area, covering Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Purulia and Bankura districts.
“We will improve healthcare, water supply facilities,” Adhikari said, adding that the government wants the construction of a 200-km greenfield highway connecting the industrial towns of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand with Durgapur in West Bengal to ensure all-round development of this region.
He announced that a hospital with modern healthcare facilities will be constructed in Mukutmanipur, which he said the government will develop into a model tourism destination.
Adhikari claimed that the previous TMC dispensation had overtaken the British in bringing down atrocities on the people of the state.
Pointing to the “whole-hearted support” received by the BJP from the tribal populace in the assembly polls, Adhikari said, “Our Adivasi candidates won from all 16 constituencies reserved for scheduled tribes and also from unreserved Kashipur.”
Stating that 1.51 crore women applied for the Annapurna Yojana introduced by the BJP government, replacing the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme of the previous dispensation that gave Rs 1,500 per month to women, the chief minister said, “Of these, we have sanctioned 1.20 crore applications.”
Adhikari said that the government will transfer Rs 3,000 to the bank accounts of each of these beneficiaries on Wednesday under the Annapurna Yojana.
He said that five lakh of these beneficiaries are tribal women.
