Srinagar
New hostels, coaching programmes, scholarships and exposure trips besides cash awards, laptops and tablets to tribal students — Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday launched a slew of major initiatives “with a vision for a prosperous tribal community”.
The Lieutenant Governor inaugurated eight tribal hostels built at a cost of Rs 26 crore and laid the foundation stones for 25 more tribal hostels worth Rs 100 cr. While he launched a coaching programme for NEET/JEE and competitive examinations under “Top 50, Host 50 and Stars 100 schemes”, the Top-20 meritorious tribal students received laptops for their outstanding performance in the matriculation exam.
This apart, two toppers were also felicitated with a cash award of Rs one lakh each even as tablet computers and sports kits were distributed among hostel students. Smart Cards were distributed to the migratory tribal population to ensure their smooth seasonal migration.
The Lt Governor also flagged off exposure tour of 200 tribal hostel students to various parts of the country under the “Bharat ko Jano” programme aimed at instilling the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ among the tribal youth.
Dedicating the new initiatives to the tribal community, the L-G said that the schemes by the Tribal Affairs Department will unleash the productive potential of the youth, and holistic development of the tribal community free from all discrimination, fear and insecurity.
He expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi for securing the rights of the tribal community in J&K and reiterated the government’s commitment to empower the Union Territory’s tribal population which was neglected for decades.
“We are working with a resolve to make the development process holistic, universal and impacting all sections of the society. For the first time in the history of J&K, the tribal population is feeling fully integrated, connected with the mainstream of development. For the first time, their voice is being heard and they have been given their due rights, said the Lt Governor.
He said the initiatives launched are part of the continuous endeavours of the Government to promote the welfare of tribal community and ensure that the present and future generations of the community have all the facilities which their previous generations were deprived of.
Dedicated focus is being given towards facilitating best education to the new generation of the tribal community, he said.
“We expanded the scope of pre-matric scholarship to 1.5 lakh students and 12,500 children were selected for post-matric scholarship. Rs 50.62 crore worth scholarships are being given for the education of the children of tribal community, which is a big record in itself, the Lt Governor pointed out.
“We are also spending Rs 40 cr to convert 200 schools in tribal areas into smart schools. Till March 31, 100 schools have been converted into smart schools and the work of remaining 100 schools will also be completed soon,” Sinha added.
Under the Host-50 and Top-50 schemes, 100 meritorious students of the tribal community, including 45 girls will be provided coaching for the first time in Government-empanelled Institutes for NEET/JEE exams, besides scholarship worth Rs.70,000-75,000 per year will be given to those who would crack the competitive examinations.
As many as 100 tribal youths aspiring for civil services exams like UPSC and JKAS will get the quality coaching in the reputed institutes under the Stars-100 scheme, and the administration will bear the expenses of tuition fees, study material for the talented tribal graduates belonging to poor families. Moreover, 2000 tribal youths will be trained in formal skill development in different professions, and many such youths who have already taken informal training in any occupation will also be certified.
In yet another important step, pre-matric scholarships for the tribal communities have been on-boarded on the National Scholarship Portal. “Now, the scholarship amount will be transferred directly to the accounts of 10,000 tribal students in a completely transparent manner. Besides, we have taken a step forward to encourage sports culture among the tribal youth,” said the Lt Governor.
Under the ‘Technology Enabled Education Scheme’, the tablet computers preloaded with course wise study material distributed to 800 tribal hostel students of 10th, 12th and PG “will prove to be an important factor in promoting digital literacy among the youth of the tribal community”.
The Lt Governor also felicitated the wardens of tribal hostels for their continuous support to students in their education journey.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, said the laptop and tablets provided to students would make them able to script a bright future with their hardwork and determination. Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Secretary to the Government, Tribal Affairs Department, in his welcome address, gave details of the inauguration of various major initiatives for the tribal community of J&K.
B K Singh, Principal Secretary School Education; Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, besides large number of students from tribal community and their wardens and members of tribal community were present during the grand ceremony of major initiatives of the Tribal Affairs Department
On the sidelines of the event, the Lt Governor announced the government’s decision of extending various provisions under the Public Services Guarantee Act completely through online mode and celebrating August 5 as as ‘J&K Bhrashtachar Mukti Diwas’.
