Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi hails 'historic' Bru-Reang refugee accord, announces benefits herein

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed the solution to Tripura's decades-old Bru-Reang refugee crisis as a historic decision that relieved communities of their troubles. PM Modi talked about the issue in his first Mann Ki Baat radio address of 2020. Home Minister Amit Shah had on January 16 presided over the signing of a pact between the Centre, Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb, Mizoram CM Zoramthanga and Bru refugee representatives under which around 34,000 internally displaced people will be settled in Tripura.

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"Two weeks ago, a very important agreement was signed in New Delhi which ended the chapter of the painful, almost 25-year-old, Bru-Reang refugee crisis. This problem dates back to the 1990s. In 1997, Bru-Reang tribals had to leave Mizoram and take refuge in Tripura due to ethnic tension. The refugees were kept in temporary camps in Kanchanpur in North Tripura," PM Modi said. He noted that the tribal community were deprived of basic facilities due to their settlement in refugee camps.

Belief in Constitution remained intact

"For 23 years, there were no homes, no land, neither were there any medical facilities for the families nor education for their children. They spent every moment of their lives in uncertainty. Governments came and went but none could solve their problems. But despite all odds, their belief in the Constitution and culture remained intact and this very belief has brought a new dawn in their lives," PM Modi said.

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Path of a dignified life

Prime Minister Modi affirmed that the agreement has opened the path of a dignified life for Bru-Reang refugees and the 2020 decade "has brought a new ray of hope in their lives".

"Around 34,000 Bru-Reang refugees will be settled in Tripura; Centre will assist in rehabilitations and their overall development by giving a package of around Rs 600 crore. Every displaced family will get a plot, assistance for homes and rations will be given to them. They will also be able to take the benefits of Centre and State's public welfare schemes," the PM announced.

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Essence of co-operative federalism

PM Modi also thanked the Chief Ministers of Mizoram and Tripura for ending the crisis. "This is a unique agreement for a number of reasons, it depicts the essence of co-operative federalism. For this agreement, the Chief Ministers of both Mizoram and Tripura were present and it was signed with the agreement and wishes of the two states. I thank the CMs and people of both the states."

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