Kolkata, Aug 23 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that the government will support the tribal population in the state in every possible way for their development and is working to ensure their forest rights.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 18-Year-Old Mentally Ill Girl Raped In Shahjahanpur District; FIR Registered.

She said the budget for the Tribal Development Council has increased six fold since the inception of the body in 2013 besides the launching of schemes to help the tribals.

Also Read | Faridabad Shocker: Minor Raped By Staffer at Private Hospital; Case Registered Under POCSO Act.

"We are trying to support the tribal population in every possible way. The government has started pension schemes for them like Jai Bangla, Jai Johar, and Lakhmi Bhandar minimum support scheme. We are also trying to ensure their forest rights so that no one can take away their forests from them," Banerjee said at a meeting of senior government officers and representatives of the Tribal Development Council.

The last meeting of the council was held in March 2020.

"Our government started the Council in 2013. We have decided to set up 500 tribal schools where students will be taught in Oli Chiki language, besides 200 schools for Rajbanshis, 100 English medium schools and two schools for Kamtapuri students.

"Apart from this, we will also set up Kurmi, Hindi, Gorkha, Nepali, Sadgiri, Kurmali, Lepcha, Urdu language schools once the syllabus is finalised," she added.

The Council meetings, due to be held every six months, could not held for about one and half years due to the COVID pandemic and the state assembly poll, Banerjee said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)