Pahari Tribe ST Forum calls on LG Manoj Sinha ?

Jammu; A delegation of Pahari Tribe ST Forum called on Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhawan to highlight various issues faced by Pahari tribe.

A three member delegation led by Adv. Ahsan Mirza accompanied by Adv. Gurdev Singh Thakur and Sajjad Mirza met with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and apprised him about issues faced by Pahari Tribe and core issue of the meeting was to grant ST status for down trodden and marginalized Pahari Tribe.

After meeting with LG, Adv. Ahsan Mirza said, ?Pahari ethnicity constitute a tribe well mentioned by the government of India with constitutional amendment and live in hilly, tough terrain of border area lacking the deficiency in all sectors and also are part of seasonal migration every year and fulfills all prerequisite to be given Schedule Tribe status,?



He further pointed out that this time centre is led by a government having complete majority and a PM with firm conviction who can address this genuine demand of much deprived tribe and from time to time different committees and expert panels declared Pahari tribe as the downtrodden ethnicity.

Adv. Gurdev Singh Thakur a delegation member said that no Pahari Tribe Officer has been shouldered with the responsibility of holding the post at prime position, which has resulted in low presentation of Pahari Tribe in the welfare of JK UT. We requested LG, Sinha for appointment of Pahari Tribe Officers at prime positions enabling them to show their ability and represent the JK UT as well

Meanwhile, another important issues raised during the meeting was the functioning of Pahari Advisory Board which is presently lying defunct as no meeting of the Board has ever been held for the last more than two years.

The board has failed to implement any welfare scheme for Pahari speaking students and other segments of Pahari Tribe. We urged upon LG to appoint an officer from pahari tribe as Secretary of the Board with Independent Charge so that the function of the Board is reviewed time to time



While, interacting with the members of delegations the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said that their genuine issues would be taken up with concern authorities for the redressal on merit.

The LG also observed that the UT government is committed to make every section of society as an equal stake holder in the development process of UT. He impressed upon the delegation to spread awareness and motivate the community to get connected with various welfare and developmental schemes being run in J&K.