Who are the icons Madhya Pradesh is honouring as part of its tribal outreach programme?

• Many memorials and museums have been build under the massive tribal outreach programme highlighting the participation of tribal leaders in freedom struggle.
• Important tribes in the state include Bhils and Gonds.

About Madhya Pradesh :

• Madhya Pradesh has the largest tribal population of the country, with 46 recognised scheduled tribes, of which three are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) spread across the 52 districts in the state.
• The Bhil community comprises nearly 40 per cent of the total tribal population followed by the Gond tribe that constitute another 34 per cent of the 1.53 crore tribal population. Gonds are largely spread across eastern districts of MP such as Mandla, Dindori, Anuppur, Umaria, Chhindwara while the Bhils are found around western MP districts of Barwani, Khandwa, Jhabua, Alirajpur and further extending into Rajasthan.
• Out of the 52 districts, MP has a total of six complete tribal districts while another 15 districts have partial tribal population.

As part of the tribals outreach programme, the state has undertaken the following measures:

• Implementation of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, which allows self-governance through traditional gram sabhas for people living in scheduled areas.
• Legalising mohua, a staple drink of the tribals, which will be sold as ‘heritage liquor’.
• The chief minister has also announced that petty cases registered against tribals will also be withdrawn, most of which are for production and sale of mahua-based liquor.
• Home delivery of foodgrains distributed under public distribution across all 89 tribal blocks has also been announced.
• University in Chhindwara to be named after Shankar Shah. Shankar Shah, son of Sumer Shah, was the last ruler of Garha Kingdom under Gond rule.
• Railway station, bus stop to be renamed after Tantya Bhil, a memorial in his name in Khandwa.
• A medical college in Mandla will be named after Raja Hirde Shah Lodhi, who had come from Kashi and settled in MP’s Bundelkhand region. His ancestors had established their kingdom in the present-day Damoh which was then under Gond rulers.
• Bhopal’s Habibganj station renamed after Gond queen- Rani Kamlapati.
• Raja Sangram Shah award for best work in tribal art and culture. He was the 48th Gond ruler of Garha kingdom.

Some of the important tribal leaders from Madhya Pradesh :

• Tantia Bheel:

• Tantia was a member of the Bhil tribe, of the indigenous Adivasi community, and born in gram barda tehsil pandhana Madhya Pradesh around 1840.

• Per one modern account he embarked on his way of life after the harsh measures taken by the British following the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

• Rani Kamlapati:

• Rani Kamlapati was the widow of Nizam Shah, whose Gond dynasty ruled the then Ginnorgarh, 55 km from Bhopal, in the 18th century.

• Kampalati is known to have shown great bravery in facing aggressors during her reign after her husband was killed.

• Kamlapati was the “last Hindu queen of Bhopal”, who did great work in the area of water management and set up parks and temples.