Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that weaker and marginalized sections of the society in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir were empowered after the abrogation of Article 370. Replaying to the Motion of Thanks on the President's address to Parliament in Rajya Sabha today, the Prime Minister touched upon the rights and development of Scheduled Castes (SCs) Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) communities and said that abrogation of Article 370 ensured that these communities get the same rights as the rest of the country in Jammu and Kashmir.
Similarly, Forest Rights Act, Prevention of Atrocities Act, and domicile rights for Balmiki community in the state were also implemented only after the abrogation. He also mentioned the passing of the bill for OBC reservation in the local bodies of the state.
The Prime Minister also mentioned the steps to honour Baba Saheb and also pointed out the event of tribal women becoming the President of the nation. Speaking about the government policies for the welfare of the poor, Prime Minister Modi underlined prioritizing the development of the SC, ST, OBC and Tribal communities. He mentioned pucca houses, cleanliness campaigns to improve health, Ujjwala gas scheme, free ration and Ayushman Yojna to empower these communities. He also mentioned that in the last 10 years, scholarships for SC and ST students were increased, enrollment numbers in school rose, dropout rates were reduced significantly, a new Central Tribal University was established taking the number from 1 to 2 and the number of Eklavya Model Schools increased from 120 to 400. He informed that enrolment of SC students in higher education has increased by 44 percent, ST students’ enrolment by 65 percent, and OBC enrollment went up by 45 percent. |
