By L S Herdenia
BHOPAL: Governors essaying the role of the opposition in states ruled by parties other than the BJP and its allies has become common enough. From Kerala to West Bengal to Tamil Nadu – a series of states have witnessed bitter, even unseemly and ugly attacks by the Governors on their own state governments. Lok Bhawans – as Raj Bhawans are now known – have turned into BJP offices in many state capitals.
However, for a change, the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh recently saw the State Governor launch an acerbic attack on the state government and its policies vis-à-vis the Adivasis. What is even more surprising is that he praised the Congress-ruled Karnataka and Telangana for acting against those responsible for not implementing schemes for the welfare of the Adivasis. And he said all these things in the presence of the chief minister Mohan Yadav.
Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel (81) is himself an Adivasi. He comes from the Navsari district of Gujarat – known for its chikoos and its substantial Adivasi population. He hails from the Kukna (also spelt as Kokna or Kokni) Adivasi community and had begun his political career as the President of the Gujarat unit of BJP Adivasi Morcha. He took over as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh in July 2021.
The Governor of Madhya Pradesh – like those of other states with Tribal population – enjoys special powers under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution with regard to protection and welfare of the Adivasis, who form 21 per cent of the state’s population. The entire area of five districts of the state (Jhabua, Mandla, Dindori, Barwani and Alirajpur) has been notified as Fifth Schedule Areas. Fifteen other districts are partially covered by the Fifth Schedule. The Constitution empowers the Governors of States with Fifth Schedule areas to constitute a Tribal Advisory Council, stop the operation of any Act of Parliament or State legislature in the Fifth Schedule areas and make regulations for transfer of land owned by members of the Scheduled Tribes and to protect them from moneylenders.
Mangubhai Patel, while addressing a workshop organised at the State Administrative Academy in the capital Bhopal on devising strategies for better implementation of the schemes for welfare of the Adivasis was unsparing in putting the state government in the dock on the issue.
He said that the government and the bureaucrats do not feel for the Adivasis. They do not consider Adivasis their own people. He also said that Adivasi children are still exploited. “Are they only meant to dance at government functions wearing their traditional attire? In the morning, they may have been dancing at some other government event. Now they are dancing here,” he said, even as the assemblage, shocked by his aggressive tone, listened in silence.
The Governor said that as Adivasis form 21 per cent of the state’s population, all departments are supposed to allocate 21 per cent of their budgets for the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP). But the TSP budget is allowed to lapse. “I am surprised to discover that Rs 299 crore received from the Central Government for Adivasi welfare could not be utilized and was allowed to lapse,” he said.
And the Governor was not off the mark in making this criticism. The state government has been consistently failing to utilise the budget allocation under the Tribal Sub-plan (TSP). In 2023-24, of the total TSP of Rs 40,207 crore, only 33,049 crore could be spent. Thus, almost 18 per cent of the budged was allowed to lapse. Similarly, in 2024-25, of the total budget of Rs 41,733 crore, almost 15 per cent was allowed to lapse and just Rs 35,537 crore was spent. In 2025-26, the total TSP budget was Rs 47,648 crore. Of this, only 37,349 crore was spent. A staggering Rs 10,399 crore, representing 22 per cent of the budget, was left unspent.
Governor Patel did not stop here. He praised Telangana and Karnataka – both ruled by Congress Governments – for taking action against those responsible for not utilizing the Tribal Sub-plan allocations.
The Governor also said that whatever is being done in the name of promoting health and education among the Adivasis was little more than a formality.
In fact, he even went to the extent of criticising the design of the new Aaganwadis being built by the state government. “Each Anganwadi costs Rs 12 lakh. They have plastic doors and tiny windows. Anyone can bend the rods of the window grills with bare hands,’ he said. (IPA Service)
