Tripura CM slams state's previous Left Front govt for 'failing to resolve' Reang tribal crisis

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Sunday criticised the previous Left Front government for its failure to resolve the 23-year-long Reang tribal issue in the state, stating that the dedicated efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have finally addressed the longstanding problem.

While addressing a function at Kulai RF Village Ground in Dhalai District, the Chief Minister said the problem of internally displaced Reang tribals remained unresolved for 23 years during the Left rule, which spanned almost 35 years in two phases (1978 to 1988 and 1993 to 2018).

With the dedicated efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, this long-standing problem has been resolved, he said.

“The Central and state governments are taking the right steps to ensure the proper rehabilitation of the displaced Reang tribals,” said Saha.

At the event, the Union Home Minister formally inaugurated six development projects and laid the foundation stones for seven projects worth about Rs 668.39 crore.

“We endured almost 35 years of Left Front rule in Tripura. But the Reang tribal people lived in miserable conditions for 23 years. With the dedicated efforts of our Prime Minister and Home Minister, this decades-old ethnic problem has been resolved,” the Chief Minister said and thanked both the Prime Minister and Home Minister for resolving this crucial issue.

Saha mentioned that the government has made arrangements for the rehabilitation of displaced Reang tribals in 12 locations across the state.

“Work has been completed in 11 locations, and the remaining work in Shantir Bazar (in south Tripura) is on the verge of completion. Every provision of the agreement signed between the Central government, Tripura government, Mizoram government, and Reang tribal leaders would be fully implemented. The state government is fulfilling the directives of the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister,” he said.

Saha informed that 1,754 acres of land have been used for the resettlement of the displaced tribals.

“A total of 6,935 families comprising 37,584 individuals have been rehabilitated so far. Facilities such as electricity connections, brick-paved roads, deep tube wells for purified drinking water, ration shops, Anganwadi centres, schools and primary health centres have been provided,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that initially, Rs 500 crore was allocated for this purpose, but with the intervention of the Union Home Minister, Rs 821.98 crore has been spent so far.

The displaced Reang tribals (locally called Bru) in different phases migrated from Mizoram in between 1997 and 2009 after ethnic troubles in the neighbouring state and following an agreement settled in 12 locations in four districts of Tripura - North Tripura, Dhalai, Gomati, and South Tripura.

After several years of tussles and agitations, a quadripartite agreement was signed on January 16, 2020 between the Centre, Tripura, and Mizoram governments and the Reang tribal leaders to resettle the 37,584 tribal immigrants comprising 6,935 families in 12 locations in four of Tripura’s eight districts.