Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) and Tribal Affairs, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today laid the foundation stone for boys Hostel of Khuda Baksh Memorial Public School and to be upgraded block of Library and Research Centre of the Gujjar Desh Charitable Trust Jammu.
Speaking on the occasion, Zulfkar appreciated the efforts of the Trust in promoting education among Scheduled tribes especially Gujjars and assured all possible help in this regard. He said that the present dispensation believes in holistic development of all sections of the society and in this regard concerted efforts are being made to provide equal opportunities to all. Maintaining that tribal development is an important component to achieve the objective of holistic development he said that “Schedule Tribes need to be included in the mainstream but at the same time it is important to ensure that their ethnic and cultural identity remains intact”.Later, the Minister convened a meeting with the members of the Trust and was apprised of the problems being faced by the Gujjar community in general and trust in particular.The Minister gave a patient hearing to the points raised by the Trustees in the meeting and assured them that the Government will initiate necessary steps to meet the cause of empowerment and upliftment of Scheduled Tribes of Jammu & Kashmir.Director Tribal Affairs, Mohammad Rafiq, Secretary State Advisory Board for Gujjar and Bakerwal, Mukhtar Ahmad, Patron -in-Chief of Gujjar Desh Charitable Trust, Ch. Abdul Hamid, Chairman Gujjar Desh Charitable Trust, Mohammad Yousaf Khepar, and other trustees were also present on the occasion.