New Delhi, June 14: Senior BJP leader and Sundargarh MP, Jual Oram on Friday assumed charge as the Minister of Tribal Affairs in the Modi 3.0 Cabinet.

Addressing a press conference after taking charge, Oram said that it is an honour to lead the Ministry for the third time.

Highlighting the basic needs of tribals, the Tribal Affairs Minister said that it is the priority of the Ministry to intensify the network of education and boost the health sector in tribal regions.

"This is the third time I am taking charge of the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry. I pray to Lord Jagannath, and I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this responsibility," Oram said.

"The biggest issue in the tribal areas of the country is education. I thank PM Modi for working on the issue. I told PM Modi this when I met him in the first Modi government. He asked what one thing is the most important for tribals. I said education," he added.

"We have been able to create a robust education infrastructure and network of Eklavya Model Residential Schools in the country. This rivals the network of Kendriya Vidyalayas and I think we can do better than KVs," he stated.

"The second priority issue in tribal areas is health. We will address this issue in the Modi government's third term. We will further improve the road, communication, and irrigation network in the tribal regions of the country," he said.

63-year-old Oram, who holds the distinction of being the country's first Tribal Affairs minister, made his way to the Lok Sabha for the fifth time this year after defeating BJD candidate and former Indian Hockey captain Dilip Tirkey by 1,38,808 votes from Sundargarh in Odisha.

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