Chowna Mein urged the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to lift population criteria in releasing grant

April 7, 2016

 New Delhi, April 7: Deputy Chief Minister, Chowna Mein, today urged the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India to lift the population criteria to release fund while requesting the government to release the grants in time to mitigate the various needs of the tribal communities of the state.

He assured that the state government would summit various projects in the sectors for which the funds are released. He also requested the Ministry to establish a Tribal Research Institute in Arunachal Pradesh as well as to allot funds for Eklavya Model Residential School at the earliest.

He pushed the Ministry to give special attention to Arunachal Pradesh considering that it is a comparatively young state and has cent percent tribal population. Mein, who also holds the portfolio of Social Justice and Empowerment, was speaking in the Conference, organized by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi to evolve strategies for overall development of tribal communities.

Mein agreed that the cultural diversity of our country requires special measures to be taken up for the tribal communities.  He said that the remote border areas in the state needs to be developed in particular, in sectors like health, education, agriculture among others to stop mass immigration to the capital complex, thereby ensuring the overall development of the state.

In the field of skill development, he urged the ministry to look into the issue of salary and remuneration. He informed that the students, after taking the necessary training, comes to big cities to work only to return to their home state because of financial crunch.

Mein later informed the gathering of various achievements of the state in different sectors, particularly in Agriculture and horticulture.

Earlier Jual Oram, Minister for Tribal Affairs, while speaking in the occasion, said that although the literacy rate and health of the tribal communities has increased considerably in the last few decades, it is still low when compared to the rest of the country. He asked for suggestions regarding the up gradation of Eklavya Model Residential School till graduation level in order to ensure that students complete their education. Oram also mentioned that soon, along with population and geographical area, performance of the state will also be given weightage for fund allocation.

Tao Tabin, Director, Social Justice and Empowerment also attended the event.

The conference while ensuring sustainable tribal development, provided a platform to seek active participation and involvement of all the stakeholders for evolving a regular feedback mechanism in respect of policies, programmes, schemes and initiatives of Ministry and exchange ideas for ensuring good governance for the tribal population and its overall development in the country.