Agartala,  A day after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 1,300 crore package for the socio-economic development of the tribal areas of Tripura, the Deputy Chief Minister of the northeastern state, Jishnu Dev Varma, on Saturday termed the announcement as as a historic moment for the welfare of the tribal people.

Tribals constitute one third of Tripura's four million population.

Sitharaman, who came to Tripura on Friday on a two-day visit and inaugurated 12 developmental projects, including few externally-aided projects (EAPs) worth around Rs 8,000 crore, promised to grant more EAPs to the state.

Dev Varma, who also holds the finance portfolio, said, "The announcement of the financial package by the Finance Minister would be considered as a historic moment in the welfare of the tribal people in the state, as it is the biggest package announced by the central government so far for the socio-economic development of the tribals."

On Friday, Sitharaman had said, "The way Tripura has shown an inclusive developmental model where smart cities and tribal villages are given equal emphasis is a remarkable achievement."

Dev Varma also said that on the request of the state government, the Punjab National Bank has approved a top up loan of Rs 70,000 for each beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Grameen).

He said the Rs 1,300 crore package would lead to infrastructure development in schools, access to quality education for the children, and last mile connectivity, so that each tribal family has a road in front of their house.

The package has a provision to connect 320 habitations with all-weather roads while the tribals would be engaged in piggery, duckery, fishery, poultry, fodder cultivation, agri and horticultural activities.

Besides, under the package, initiatives would be made for agri-allied activities, farm mechanisation, value addition, marketing products, creation of supplementary source of income assistance and skill upgradation in the traditional handloom sector.

It is expected that around 460 community-based projects and close to 80,000 beneficiaries would be covered under the various schemes of the project, the Deputy Chief Minister said.

Dev Varma also said that the Finance Ministry has approved strategic partnerships between the Asian Development Bank and the government of Tripura in numerous sectors.

She also approved a project worth Rs 14.15 crore for the expansion of the National Highways and another worth Rs 7.4 crore for developing various facilities in Agartala for better urbanisation as a ‘Smart City'.