Chief Minister attended the huge Banjara Mahakumbh program on World Banjara Day
Raipur 08 April 2025: Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai today attended the huge Banjara Mahakumbh program organized by All India Banjara Seva Sangh Chhattisgarh at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium in the capital Raipur on the occasion of World Banjara Day. On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that the history of Banjara community has been very rich. This community has been associated with trade since a long time. Banjara community has also made a significant contribution in the independence of the country. The Chief Minister was honored by the Banjara community by wearing traditional Banjara dress. The Chief Minister was also presented a booklet published by the Banjara community. The women of the Banjara community gave a beautiful presentation of traditional Ladi dance. Chief Minister Sai started the huge Banjara Mahakumbh program by garlanding and lighting lamps on the photographs of Guru Nanak Dev and Sant Sewalal Maharaj, the idols of the Banjara community. He congratulated the Banjara community on World Banjara Day on 8 April. The Chief Minister said that the Banjara community has been doing business for years. Earlier, the Banjara community used to carry trade goods to far-off places through bulls. I am remembering the contribution of respected Lakhi Shah ji of the Banjara community. It is said that he had two lakh bulls and each of his caravans had hundreds of bulls. He used to travel from Rawalpindi to Kabul-Kandahar. In those days, he had a large piece of land in Chandni Chowk, Delhi. Despite having a storehouse of wealth, he always remained humble and spent his money in charity. He resisted Aurangzeb’s army at the age of 95.
The Chief Minister said that I have had close relations with the Banjara community. There are many villages like Madanpur, Pathalgaon, Hathgada etc. around my village Bagiya, where brothers and relatives of the Banjara community live, they are all my close ones. The entire village of Hathgada is inhabited by people from the Banjara community. The entire village is involved in catering. Whenever there is an event in the nearby village, people from this village are invited. There is a large population of Banjara community in Basna, Chhattisgarh. It is a matter of great happiness that today this Maha Kumbh is being organized by the Banjara community. Such events provide an opportunity for the community to meet and unite. The Chief Minister said that after our government was formed in Chhattisgarh, the guarantees of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are being fulfilled at a fast pace. After the formation of the government, we approved 18 lakh Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the first cabinet meeting. In Chhattisgarh, 70 lakh mothers and sisters are being given Mahtari Vandan amount. Our state is a rice bowl. We are purchasing rice at the rate of Rs 3100 per quintal. Our tribal brothers and sisters are being given Rs 5500 per standard sack of tendu leaves.
The Chief Minister said that Chhattisgarh is the maternal home of Lord Ram. Through Ramlala Darshan Yojana, the people of Chhattisgarh are being given darshan of Lord Ramlala. So far, more than 22000 devotees have visited Lord Ramlala. Recently, the Chief Minister’s Teerth Yatra Yojana has also been started. We are trying to take Chhattisgarh forward in every field. It is a matter of great pride that in the journey of 25 years after becoming a state, we have established top institutions like IIT, IIM, National Law University, Triple IT in Chhattisgarh. Addressing the huge Banjara Mahakumbh program, Maharashtra’s Soil and Water Conservation Minister Sanjay Rathod said that from Kerala to Kashmir, the Banjara community has one dialect. The festivals, tradition, culture, food habits of the Banjara community are the same across the country. The Banjara community is naturally a nature-worshipping community. Our community is spread across the country. It is recognized by different names everywhere. In the huge Banjara Mahakumbh program, Shri Shri Mandal Mahant Swami Umeshanand Giri Maharaj, Maharashtra Minister of State Indranil Naik, Basna MLA Sampat Agarwal, former Karnataka MP Umesh Jadhav, All India Banjara Seva Sangh President Shankar Pawar, State President Sadashiv Ramji Nayak, PCS Rathore, Mrs. Sheetal Sanjay Rathore, Mrs. Mohini Tai Nayak and a large number of people from the Banjara community were present.
