By IANS,
Jammu: Gujjars in Jammu and Kashmir have demanded an aid package for the nomadic community, which its leaders alleged was a victim of neglect by successive governments in the state.
Lashing out at the state government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for its indifference toward the Gujjars, Gujjar United Front (GUF) president and senior community leader Mohammad Anwar Choudhary Friday sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention.
“We demand that the prime minister should announce a special political and economic package during his forthcoming visit to the state,” Choudhary said at a press conference here.
The prime minister is visiting Kashmir on Oct 27, primarily to inaugurate the rail link between Qazigund and Anantnag in south Kashmir.
“The Gujjar community is losing faith in the state government due to its indifference,” he said.
Choudhury said that though the Scheduled Tribe status was granted to Gujjars by the centre in 1991, the state government has “failed in implementing the same in its true spirit in Jammu and Kashmir”.
“The basic and constitutional rights of Gujjars are being denied to them,” he alleged, adding that the state government is bent upon marginalising the Gujjars in every field. He said the community was also being ignored in district level police recruitment.
The Omar Abdullah government has not nominated or appointed any Scheduled Tribe community member to the state’s Public Service Commission and Subordinate Services Selection Board (SSSB).