Secretary, Tribal Affairs and Cooperative, Abdul Majeed Bhat toured several Gujjar and Bakarwal habitations of district Samba and took stock of infrastructural requirements for the up gradation of civic amenities like health, education and road connectivity there.The Secretary during his visit to Sarore, Chak Salaria, Rakh Barontia, Barodi, inspected the upcoming projects being executed by the department like Hostels, schools and Milk Chilling plants for the upliftment of the underprivileged sections of the society.He interacted with the community members and informed them about the road map being formulated by the Tribal Affairs Department for their welfare and development.The Secretary also inspected Bulk Milk Coolers being established by the department at Chak Salaria and Rakh Barontia and was informed that the facility with a capacity of five thousand kilo litres at Chak Salaria, would be made functional in next few months.During the tour, he directed the concerned officials and the executing agency to pace up the work on Gujjar Hostel at Samba so that the hostel is completed within the stipulated time frame.Earlier, the Secretary inspected the functioning of a makeshift residential school for tribal students at Sarore and also interacted with the students.
The Secretary impressed upon the students to put in their best efforts in studies and come out as better citizens of tomorrow.“You have the potential to be placed at the highest echelons of society which would be of great help towards welfare of the community in particular and the nation in general,” he exhorted upon the students.The Secretary also met several delegations who had come with their set of demands which include road connectivity, electricity, drinking water, construction of school buildings and other things. He said that efforts are being made for the overall development and welfare of the tribal communities including creating employment avenues to the tribal youth through various skill development initiatives.He assured them that all their genuine demands would be looked into and directed the officers to step up their efforts so that all the issues of the community will be sorted out at an earliest.At Rakh Barobtia, he directed the Director, Tribal Affairs, Saleem Malik to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the establishment of cluster model tribal village.The Secretary exhorted upon the tribal people to get registered with the Cooperative Society to avail the benefits under the scheme meant for their welfare.He also asked the officials to explore the possibility for the establishment of Gobar Gas Plant and vermin compost plant in the area keeping in view the feasibility and potential of the location.Secretary Gujjar Advisory Board Mukhtar Ahmad Choudhary; Executive Engineer, Public Works Department Samba, Rajesh Abrol; Nodal Officer for Centrally Sponsored Schemes, Javaid Parrey; Assistant Warden Samba, Rashid Alam accompanied the Secretary during his tour.