Pahari Tribe jubilant over ST status. JKPPM thanked Modi Government.

GNSONLINE RAJOURI
SHYAM SOOD

RAJOURI, NOVEMBER 07:—-Chairman, Shahbaz Khan and General Secretary, G.M. Charak of Jammu & Kashmir Pahari People Movement (JKPPM) along with other leaders of the Pahari Ethnic Community have expressed their happiness over the inclusion of the tribe in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
The Pahari leaders have expressed their gratitude to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) that has cleared the way for the inclusion of the ‘Pahari ethnic group’ in the Scheduled Tribes list of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Shahbaz Khan & G M Charak further said that the present Modi Government is actually for the poor and middle-class people.
Shahbaz Khan added that the development came within one month of the Home Minister’s largely attended rallies at Rajouri & Baramulah in which he had announced that work to implement reservation (for Paharis) is underway in New Delhi.
“GD Sharma Commission has recommended reservation for Paharis and the administrative work to implement reservation is underway in New Delhi” has said Home Minister Amit Shah in the Rajouri rally.
J&K Commission of Socially & Backward Classes) led by Justice GD Sharma (retd) in its report has recommended ST status for Paharis along with a few other communities in the state.
“Both the rallies, at Rajouri & Baramulah, were largely attended by the members of Pahari Tribe who were anticipating the announcement of the much awaited ST status for the community,” said Shahbaz Khan.
Registrar General of India (RGI) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) sealed the recommendations of the three-member Backward Class Commission to include the tribe in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
For the last many years, the file for inclusion of Paharis in the ST category remained in the offices of the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes & couldn’t see the light of day.
For the last more than forty years, several Pahari Tribe Organisations, including JKPPM, and the All Jammu and Kashmir Pahari Cultural and Welfare Forum (AJKPCF) were struggling for ST status to their community & at last the present Union Government has considered their genuine demand.
Shahwaz Khan said that shortly after Shah’s address, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs on October 7 sent a letter to the ST Commission, seeking its opinions and views on the proposal to include these four communities in the ST list of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Government sources said that after several meetings of the commission, the panel cleared the proposal for their inclusion in its meeting of October 20” he added.
AJKPCF, JKPPM, and Pahari Ethnic Community living in Uri, Karnah, Kupwara, Lolab, Tangdhar, Keran, Baramulla, Shopian , Rajouri & Poonch areas have expressed their gratitude to Union Government, especially to Prime Minister Narendra Modi; Home Minister, Amit Shah; Dr. Jatinder Singh; Ravinder Raina, Vibodh Gupta, for ST status for the tribe.
“We also salute the Pahari Community People of Kashmir and Rajouri-Poonch districts who left no stone unturned for making the Home Minister’s rally a grand success. At last, justice has been done to our Tribe, as we have suffered for a long time,” said Shahbaz Khan.