Bhubaneswar

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inaugurated the National Conference of Scheduled Castes and Tribes Welfare Committees of Parliament and State/Union Territories Legislatures here.

Birla opened the two-day conference here in the presence of Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh and Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of SC and ST Chairperson Faggan Singh Kulaste.

Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy and around 200 delegates from across the country, including chairmen and members of such committees of Parliament and 19 states, are attending the conference.

The focus of the two-day conference aims at strengthening constitutional safeguards, enhancing socio-economic development, and sharing best practices for empowering Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Padhy said.

The theme of the conference is 'Role of Parliamentary and Legislature Committees on Welfare, Development and Empowerment of SCs and STs'.

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Birla in a post on X said: "I am delighted to have arrived in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, for the National Conference of the chairpersons of the Committees on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliament and State Legislatures. I met the Hon'ble Governor Shri @DrHariBabuK ji at the State Raj Bhavan, and we discussed various subjects".