Chairing a meeting of J&K State Advisory Board for the Welfare and Development of Scheduled Castes here, the Chief Minister said that equitable development of all sections of the society with focus on poorer sections is the policy of his Government.
“We are determined to uplift the backward and poorer sections in the State considerably bringing them at par with affluent classes by providing equal and befitting opportunities for holistic progressâ€, he said and asked the departments concerned with the schemes aimed at ameliorating the lot of these sections to ensure implementation of the initiatives in letter and spirit. He said that the departments concerned should ensure benefits to these sections assured to them under various provisions of law without any negligence.
Floating an idea of constructing one big hostel complex at each district for the students of different weaker sections of the society instead of having smaller separate hostels, the Chief Minister said that this would strengthen the amity, brotherhood and pluralistic traits in the students right from their childhood which in turn will result in the strengthening of State’s secular fabric. He said that all the Boards established for the welfare of weaker sections should give thought to this idea. He said the reservation of seats in such bigger hostels would be as per the population status of a particular community in that district.
Underlining the education as an important means to eradicate socio-economic poverty of these sections, the Chief Minister said that the orbit of coaching for the students of these sections should be further expanded. He said that the scholarship standards also need to be expanded to cover more and more meritorious students under its ambit. “There should be different categories of merit for granting scholarships to the students of these sections ensuring higher rates for higher meritâ€, he said adding that while merit should be the standard of granting scholarships the objective should be covering more and more beneficiaries by introducing different merit categories.
The Chief Minister directed for examining various issues concerning reservations, allotment of plots and shops, granting of aganwari centres in uncovered areas, clearance of backlog vacancies, constitution of enforcement committee, etc by the General Administration Department and other concerned departments for the consideration of the Government.
Speaking in the meeting Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand said that Bills have been introduced in the Legislature regarding reservation of plots and shops for the weaker sections of the society in the colonies and commercial complexes that would come up in the public sector.
Tara Chand said that the coalition government under the leadership of Omar Abdullah is committed to the development of all sections equitably with special attention to the progress and upliftment of weaker sections. He said many measures have been initiated in this regard and many more are in the pipeline.
Supporting the demands put forth by the Scheduled Castes Board through various agenda items, the Deputy Chief Minister underlined the need for enhancing the coaching scheme for the weaker sections. He said focus should be on reducing the dropout of the students of these sections from schools. “We should take measures to at least ensure that no student leaves the school before completing education of 10 + 2 classâ€, he said adding that special employment packages for weaker sections of the society are also need of the hour.
The Chairperson of the Board, Swarn Lata in her welcome address thanked Omar Abdullah for taking keen interest in the development of weaker sections of the society and sought his further help in fast tracking the progress of these sections in the State.
She presented the agenda items throwing light on all aspects in detail and advocated the consideration and acceptance of various demands put forth by the Board in its agenda note for today’s meeting.
Minister for Social Welfare, Sakina Itoo, Minister of State for Social Welfare, Ajaz Ahmad Khan, Advisors to the Chief Minister, Mubarak Gul and Devender Singh Rana, Legislators, Krishan Lal, Durga Dass, Yashpal Kundal and Ashok Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, B. B. Vyas, Commissioner Secretary Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, various Administrative Secretaries, Heads of the Departments and Members of the Board were present in the meeting.