Secretary Tribal Affairs, Hajj and Auqaf, Abdul Majeed Bhat today reviewed the functioning of Tribal Affairs Department here at a meeting.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary Advisory Board for Development of Gujjar and Bakarwal, Mukhtar Ahmed; Additional Secretary Tribal Affairs, Bharat; Director Tribal Affairs, Mushtaq Ahmed; Joint Director Planning, Ashiq Husain; Deputy Director Tribal Affairs, Jammu , Coni Sethi and other officials of the Department.
Reviewing status of ongoing projects of the Department, the Secretary called for speeding up the pace of work for their timely completion. He asked the department to come up with a proposal for creation of a separate engineering wing for the department to facilitate execution of works more efficiently.
The Secretary was informed that several activities are being undertaken under Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub- Scheme like development of Cluster Tribal Model Villages, construction of PHCs/CHCs in tribal areas, besides providing adequate power supply, rural infrastructure and other requisite facilities to improve living conditions of nomadic families.
Abdul Majeed said that the aim of developing Cluster Tribal Model Village is to provide enhanced basic amenities to ST population with emphasis on education, health, skill development, besides development of horticulture, agriculture and tourism.
The meeting was informed that four Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) are under construction at Anantnag, Kulgam, Rajouri & Poonch. “The schools are being established to provide free of cost lodging, boarding and education to 480 tribal students in the 50:50 Boys and Girls ratio,” the officials informed.
Reviewing status of EMRS, the Secretary directed the concerned officers to make these schools functional at the earliest to benefit the targeted students.
It was also given that the department has taken up construction of ST/Gujjar & Bakarwal Hostels for boys and girls in urban centres across each district to provide residential facilities to ST/G&B students of far flung areas.