Yogi to celebrate Diwali with Vantangiyas

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will celebrate Diwali among the forest dwelling Vantangiya community in Gorakhpur district.

Yogi will also announce various development projects worth Rs 80 crore for the various gram panchayats where the community resides.

A state government spokesperson said: "The Chief Minister has been working tirelessly for the upliftment of the Vantangiya community and has been celebrating Diwali with them since 2009. This year too, he will be spending with them and will lay the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 37 crore and also inaugurate projects worth Rs 43 crore."

Yogi will also lay the foundation stone for a liquid waste management project and common service centres for 62 village panchayats worth Rs 2.5 crore. The work will be carried out by the Panchayati Raj Department.

Along with this, he will inaugurate development works worth Rs 21.1 crore for 24 village panchayats completed through the performance grant.

The Chief Minister will also launch projects worth Rs 1.3 crore carried out under Purvanchal Development Fund and Rs 20.4 crore under the Rapid Economic Development Plan.

The Vantangiya community comprises people brought from Myanmar during the colonial rule to plant trees for afforestation.

Soon after taking over the reins of power in the state, Yogi had directed the officials to initiate steps for bringing members of the community into the social mainstream. Nearly 23 Vantangiya villages in Gorakhpur and Maharajganj are now on the path to development.

There are 461 families which reside in village Jungle Tinkonia 3. Under various state government schemes, they have been given rights to the land on which their houses have been built. Besides, they also receive benefits under other welfare schemes.

A Gorakhnath Hindu Vidyapeeth and Composite School has been established here along with an Anganwadi centre.

"Yogi Adityanath started focusing on developing these villages after he became an MP for the first time in 1998 and learnt that the Naxals were trying to gain a hold here. He immediately started the work of setting up schools and hospitals here to provide development to the otherwise marginalised community," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the Vantangiya community is preparing to welcome the Chief Minister into their homes on Diwali.

They are cleaning their homes and women are rehearsing songs in Yogi's honour, officials said.