Gujjars push for well-defined tribal policy

Rajouri, November 20

Pleading vigorously for a multipronged approach for the all-round development of 12 Scheduled Tribe groups without disturbing their distinct culture, the Gujjar and Bakarwal communities today urged the Jammu and Kashmir Government to formulate a well- defined tribal policy for them.

In a programme organised by the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, the speakers demanded that the state government should address their complex issues with a policy to address their rehabilitation, educational and economic development, and other issues of nomadic groups in a time-bound manner with a fixed map of working with community participation.

The programme was presided over by a well-known researcher of Gujjar community, Javaid Rahi, while a number of tribal elders and youths were also present on the occasion

Rahi stated that tribal communities should be allowed to develop according to their own capacity and that would not be possible without a well-defined tribal policy of the state. Such a policy could address issues related to their literacy, livelihood, health and rehabilitation. — TNS