Speaking in the state assembly yesterday, Tribal Affairs Minister Choudhary Zulfkar Ali said multiple steps have been taken in education, agriculture, dairy and sheep husbandry sectors to uplift the tribals.
Replying on Demand for Grants of Tribal Affairs department, he said a process has been initiated for preparing special ration cards that would be issued to nomadic beneficiaries under 'priority household' category, thereby entitling them for rations under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme (MMSFES).
"To promote and support education among Scheduled Tribe (ST) students, five Eklavya Mode Residential Schools (EMRS) have been sanctioned for Anantnag, Kulgam, Rajouri, Kargil and Poonch districts," he said.
Ali said each EMRS has a capacity of about 480 students-- 240 boys and 240 girls-- and would provide lodging, boarding and education to ST students free of cost.
Also Read
The minister said financial assistance amounting to Rs 29.88 crore was provided to 1,97,933 students in the year 2016-17 under various scholarships for tribal students.
"For the year 2017-18, Rs 13.61 crore was provided to 1,77,273 students under pre-matric scholarship scheme for Ist to 8th class (for Gujjar and Bakerwal students)," he said.
The tribal affairs minister also informed the House that 1,100 ST students (50 from each district) would be trained in paramedical courses under the Skill Development initiative, during current financial year.
Later, the House passed grants amounting to Rs 51.01 crore for the tribal affairs department with voice vote.
Ali, who also holds the portfolio of food civil supplies and consumer affairs, told the Assembly that many steps have been taken to strengthen the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 1987 like reconstitution of state consumer protection council, district consumer protection councils and designation of state consumer dispute redressal commission as State Food Commission (SFC).
A grant of Rs 486.84 crore was sanctioned for the department by the Assembly.
With regard to distribution of sugar to consumers, the minister said 74.13 lakh beneficiaries were provided sugar by the state government out of its own resources as the subsidy on sugar was withdrawn by the Centre from April, 2017.
"Digitisation efforts have been launched in full swing to revolutionise the functioning of the department and increase transparency in the system. In this regard, electronic distribution system, e-PDS, has been introduced in the state," Ali said.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content