- Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura
Agartala, September 06, 2022 : In a significant development for the progress and welfare of indigenous people in Tripura, a team of officials from the World Bank visited the state and inspected various tribal-dominated hamlets in different districts before implementation of the project worth Rs 1300 crores. This project will be benefiting families residing in 23 tribal-dominated Rural Blocks in the state.
Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman on August 27, 2021 announced a project worth Rs 1300 crore to improve the living standard of people at a programme in Mohanpur under West Tripura district.
Speaking with Northeast Today, the Tribal Welfare department’s Director Vishal Kumar said “In August, 2021, the project worth 175 million dollar which is Rs 1300 crores approximately in Indian currency was sanctioned by the World Bank. This project’s time frame of implementation is for five years. To finalize the detailed project report and formulation procedure, a span of two years will be needed and most probably the project will be started by April 2023.”
“In the meantime, a team of officials of the World Bank paid a visit to Tripura for three consecutive times. They held talks with the people of different departments and visited various tribal-dominated belts across the state. It is expected that some plans will be consolidated by December next. After the assembly election in 2023, work on this project will begin in full swing and the World Bank will start releasing funds”, said the Director.
Focusing mainly on infrastructural, education and livelihood developmental aspects of the indigenous communities in Tripura, the Secretary of Tribal Welfare department Puneet Agarwal said “Roads of 527 KMs long in length will be renovated and in some places, new ways will be constructed. 17 schools will be promoted to higher levels from existing higher secondary positions. Not only this, they will be provided livelihood support, ease of living, agriculture, horticulture, animal resource development, fisheries, each and every component including IT-based skills, etc.”
