Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who is in Gujarat for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra came down heavily on PM Modi and said the model which excluded Adivasis, backward classes, Dalits and minorities began from Gujarat and will be ended from Gujarat.
This Gujarat Model began from this State and will ended by all of you in Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi said while addressing the public at Bharuch. We all know the model is skewed, he added.
The Congress leader raised questions about the representation of tribal communities in India’s top companies and institutions. He pointed out that while tribals constitute eight percent of India’s population; their representation in the country’s 200 largest companies was virtually non-existent.
Gandhi questioned, “Look at India’s 200 largest companies, how many have tribals feature in the list of owners? Not even one,” he added raising same question regarding media and ownership of private universities.
Highlighting the disparity, he said, “how many tribals are private hospital owners? How many are backward, how many are poor, how many are poor amongst the general caste? How many Adivasis, Dalits, backwards are the owners of colleges, private universities?”
Gandhi also criticised the government’s GST and said why should a billionaire industrialist pay the same GST as a poor or a middle-class man? Asking the price of sunglasses, he said if you spent Rs 600 on this shades and paid 28% GST from your fixed income, why should a billionaire also give the same amount only and not more?
He further questioned the land acquisition by big corporations. “Even here in Kevadia, they’ve taken from us. They first took our land and now they have taken away our employment opportunities as well”.
Gandhi concluded his address by emphasising the rights of the tribal communities, stating, “Adivasi means the first owner of the land of our country. We must be an inclusive society and give them their rights”.
He also criticised the BJP for referring to tribals as Vanvasi, or forest dwellers and argued that this was an attempt to deny them their rights. He promised to uphold the rights of the tribal communities and to implement pro Tribal laws.
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