CM attends conference on minority affairs in Prajna Bhawan, Shukla Charan Noatia present

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, March 10, 2026

The chief minister Dr Manik Saha today attended a conference on minority affairs in the government run Prajna Bhawan auditorium . He was accompanied by the minister for minority affairs Shukla Charan Noatia and the Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) Dipak Majumder. As part of the programme the chief minister handed over cheques of monetary grants to students and other members of the minority community and also announced a new scheme of ‘CM minority welfare scheme’ for the religious minorities in the state.

While addressing the conference on minorities, attended by the BJP MLA from Boxangar Tafazzel Hossain and other leading figures among religious minorities , the chief minister spoke eloquently on the large number of minority-specific welfare schemes introduced by the central government headed by prime minister Narendra Modi and said that, according to recorded official data the religious minorities have greatly benefited from the schemes including the ‘Mudra Yojana’, the security-exempted loan for unemployed youths. “All communities cutting across identities are benefiting from the welfare schemes as we never discriminate between community identities while delivering fruits of development; the Congress and some regional parties often mislead the religious minorities in the name of reservation on religious ground ; these are all bunkums and false allurements as our constitution has put a blanket ban on reservation in the name of religion” said Dr Saha . He added that a large number of economically communities belonging to minority Muslims are getting the benefit of reservation as per recommendations of the Manal Commission that had listed as socially and economically backward. “Besides, all must remember that the 10% reservation in education and jobs given by the BJP government in 2019 for economically weaker sections also include the religious minorities , there is no discrimination in this regard ; all that you need to qualify for the benefit is fulfilment of the criteria set for economic backwardness” said the chief minister. He also recalled his experiences of the hard work put in at the time of by-elections to the Boxanagar and Dhanpur assembly seats in 2023.

Later speaking to media persons on his experience of campaigning in the West Bengal elections Dr Saha said that ‘TMC is a dangerously corrupt and harmful force that is trying to cling to power with support from the Bangladeshi infiltrators and Rohingiyas. “What they are doing in the name of opposition to the SIR is unconstitutional and a threat to the federal structure of the country” said Dr Saha. He however predicted a BJP victory in the upcoming assembly election in West Bengal.

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