Governor Bandaru Dattatraya presided over a meeting of Tribal Development Department at Raj Bhavan, Shimla, today. He discussed about the protection of rights of tribal people and implementation under 5th Schedule of the Constitution.During the meeting, the Governor enquired about the status of implementation of Panchayat Extension Schedule Area (PESA) Act in the fifth schedule areas of Himachal Pradesh. He stressed upon regular meetings of Tribal Advisory Council. He added that efforts should be made to protect the culture, tradition and custom and said that even the smallest village should be given the status of revenue village so that more funds could be made available to them. Also, efforts should be made to bring them in the mainstream, he added. He said that land, water and authority were three important things that should be given to them according to the Act. The Governor also directed the line departments to give special impetus to skill development in the tribal areas and to include courses that focus on regional skill development.
He said that Gram Sabha should be made more effective so that welfare oriented work could be percolated to the grass root level. He directed to expedite the work on the construction of Tribal Research Institute to be constructed at Ghanatti near Shimla. He also discussed Forest Right Act and Education and Health related issues in the areas.Principal Secretary Tribal Development Onkar Sharma apprised the Governor about the welfare schemes and other initiatives taken by the state government for the schedule tribe areas. He said that HP Panchayati Raj Act 1994 was amended in the year 2004 by incorporating a chapter in section 97-I, where special provision relating to Powers of Gram Sabha, Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad located in Scheduled Areas has been included. He said that HP Panchayati Raj (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Rule, 2011 have been notified besides that HP Transfer of Land (Regulation) Act 1968 has also been enacted.Secretary to Governor Rakesh Kanwar, Additional Commissioner Tribal Development C.P. Verma, Director Higher Education Dr Amarjit Singh, Director Elementary Education Rohit Jamwal and other senior officers were also present in the meeting.