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| Gujjars demands ‘Primitive Tribal Groups’ category | | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 21: In a new move, the Scheduled Tribes Gujjar and Bakerwals of the State today demanded that they must be categorized under ‘Primitive Tribal Groups’ of India.
The community under the banner of Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation-a frontal organization of Gujjars, urged that they should be fortified with more special rights and extra constitutional safeguards in the state.
“Our tribal group, no doubt deserves special attention and a fair deal from state and centre as the ST status which was granted to them in 1991 in State along with 10 other communities has miserably failed to develop J&K Gujjars as a socially alert, economically sound and politically vibrant community,” said Dr. Javaid Rahi, secretary of Tribal Foundation while addressing a group of researchers here.
He added that Gujjars in J&K on merit should be categorized as ‘Primitive Tribal Groups’ and with out this status the all-round development could not be possible.
“As per constitution of India, under the Scheduled Tribe category, which were identified as more backward communities among the tribal population groups, have been categorised as 'Primitive Tribal Groups' (PTGs) by the Government at the Centre,” he said.
He added, “So far 85 tribal communities have been identified as 'primitive tribal groups' in different States of the country.”
Quoting a recent survey conducted by of the Foundation, Dr. Rahi said more than 72 per cent of Gujjar population in Jammu and Kashmir are still un-provided and a big chunk of our population lives under Below Poverty line do not get even sufficient food, heath and educational and employment facilities.
Further, justifying the demand Dr Rahi said that Gujjars deserved to be categories under PTGs category as their sizeable population lives in cloistered, exclusive, remote and inhospitable areas such as hills and forests.
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