‘Naya J&K’ empowers tribal communities

The new efforts in the Himalayan area aimed at empowering members of the Gujjar-Bakerwal and Gaddi-Sippi groups appear to have alarmed Kashmiri lawmakers. These leaders are concerned that if these areas are given more influence, they would lose a significant portion of their voter base.

For the past 70 years, politicians have offered residents of indigenous communities verdant fields. They were told that they would be given all of their rights and treated equally to everyone else. Politicians, on the other hand, have failed to keep their promises. The transformation in J&K's status quo, on the other hand, has proven to be a watershed moment for these impoverished areas.

Manoj Sinha presented individual and community rights certificates to the beneficiaries of Gujjar-Bakerwal and Gaddi-Sippi communities.ET Government/wikipedia

Under the Forest Rights Act of 2006, Manoj Sinha, the Lieutenant Governor of J&K, presented individual and community rights certificates to the beneficiaries of Gujjar-Bakerwal and Gaddi-Sippi communities in September 2021. These rights were provided in order to usher in a new era of empowerment and prosperity for the Union Territory's disadvantaged aboriginal inhabitants. In places where community rights have been given, Rs 10 crore has been set aside for infrastructure development straight away.

The allocation of Rs 73 crore for cluster tribal model village was the first since 1947. The government has also started the process of establishing 1,500 tiny sheep farms to help these communities become self-sufficient. At a cost of Rs 16 crore, the 'Mission Youth,' in partnership with the Tribal Department, has launched on a mission to establish 16 milk villages to connect at least 2,000 young people to the dairy sector, as well as provide training, branding, marketing, and transportation services.

Tribal tribes have been given rights to small forest produce as well. The government has completed the process of establishing infrastructure for collecting, value addition, packaging, and distribution in collaboration with the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited.

J&K government is also building transit accommodations at eight locations at a total cost of Rs 28 crore.Greater Kashmir/wikipedia

The J&K government is also building transit accommodations at eight locations at a total cost of Rs 28 crore to accommodate the seasonal transient population, with medical camps, animal yards, veterinary services, and proper security included. In Jammu, Srinagar, and Rajouri, the government has planned to construct Tribal Bhavans.

In the year 2020, tribal youngsters would receive Rs 30 crore in scholarships. In J&K, 1,521 seasonal schools for migratory children are being built, as well as two residential schools along the migratory path. The building of seven new hostels for tribal kids is nearly complete, and the UT administration has already requested to the Centre the construction of 79 more hostels.

The Delimitation Commission proposes 16 seats in the Assembly.

The Delimitation Panel, tasked with redrawing assembly and parliamentary districts in J&K, has suggested reserving 16 seats in the Union Territory for the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST) populations.
In its draught report, the panel, led by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, advocated nine seats for STs and seven seats for SCs in the future legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.Parties in Kashmir are dissatisfied.

BJP's political interests by dividing people along religious and regional lines.Britannica/wikipedia

Kashmiri leaders responded angrily when the Delimitation Panel released its blueprint. They called the proposal "unacceptable" and said it was intended at separating J&K's communities. These parties claimed that the Delimitation Commission was set up solely to serve the BJP's political interests by dividing people along religious and regional lines, and that the real goal was to install a government in J&K that would legitimise the August 5 "illegal and unconstitutional decisions." Leaders of indigenous groups, on the other hand, welcomed the planned reservation for STs and SCs, calling it a historic step toward eliminating decades of prejudice against them.

The Jammu Development Authority termed the allegations as baseless and asked the politicians how can a government body carry out selective eviction drives? The JDA stated that due process of law was followed while carrying out the drive. The Authority said that 17 pucca and kacha structures raised upon the land were demolished and removed and 41 Kanal Prime land falling under khasra No. 1193 and 1206 was retrieved from the encroachers.

It seems that leaders of National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party have forgotten when they were in power many such demolition drives were carried out across J&K to retrieve the encroached land. It's strange that during their tenures such drives were legal but now these are illegal.

Also read: Difficult Lives Of Nomadic Gujjar-Bakerwal Tribe

Picking up holes

Kashmir based politicians are leaving no chance to pick up holes with whatever present dispensation is doing as they have been left with nothing to do. They have realised that members of tribal communities won't side with them as they fed them with slogans during their tenures. These leaders have foreseen that once the draft of Delimitation Commission is implemented they may end up losing 16 assembly seats. Leaders of tribal communities have on many occasions have stated that they were hoodwinked by the Kashmiri leaders and they won't support any of these regional parties who gave them "lollipops' for the 70-years.

The initiatives taken by the present dispensation have proven beyond doubt that if the erstwhile political regimes wanted they could have done a lot for these communities but tribal men and women were used as vote banks by the politicians. They were dumped soon after the elections ended. The attempts of politicians to give communal colour to the legitimate actions of the government are also not helping their cause as a common man has understood their machinations. The 'Naya J&K' is about including everyone and the actions of the government are speaking louder than its words.

(IANS/PR)

(keywords: 'Naya J&K, Kashmir, National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party, Jammu Development Authority, STs and SCs, BJP, Delimitation Commission, Gujjar-Bakerwal and Gaddi-Sippi)