Kathua/Sep,9: A tribal delegation of Jammu & Kashmir Apni Party led by it’s leader, Yasir Choudhary on Wednesday called on Lt Governor Manoj Sinha during his tour in the border district Kathua and demanded implementation of Forest Right Act in J&K.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, the delegation during their interaction with the Lt Governor appraised him about the plight of the nomads and appealed to him to give forest rights to the tribal community in Jammu & Kashmir. He also demanded inclusion of Gojri language as one of the official languages of Jammu and Kashmir. He also demanded concrete houses in both the regions of J&K under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for the tribal community who have to migrate with their cattles after every six months. He appraised the Lt Governor that in 2016, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir initiated the process of providing 100 primary mobile schools.
“It was proposed to finalise the setup location for 65 schools in the Jammu division and 35 schools in Kashmir division. However, schools could not be established. This delay has consequently caused huge educational deprivation to the tribal children who are not in the compliance of Right to Children Education Act 2014,” Choudhary said.
He sought intervention of the Lt Governor because many nomads remained without Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards consequently depriving them of getting the ration under the BPL schemes, road connectivity, electricity supplies and clean drinking water in the areas wherever these nomads live in J&K.
He further appraised the Lt Governor that most of the Schedule Tribe students have also been deprived of books and uniform due to delay in the scholarship disbursement. He sought his intervention of Lieutenant Governor for the establishment of primary mobile schools and providing other necessary amenities at the earliest in the interest of tribes’ upliftment.
