New initiative
For the first time the Tribal Affairs Department came to the rescue of nomad families and transported them in trucks with their cattle to the pastures of Kashmir.
This initiative has been taken on the direction of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha who has announced various steps for welfare of tribals of J&K, Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department said during the flagging of trucks. He said that this initiative will minimize the hardships being faced by nomads during seasonal migration adding that this is for the first time in the history of J&K that livestock of tribals is being transported to highland pastures in trucks.
The Jammu and Kashmir government had earlier announced provision of transport/freight services for the migratory tribal population during the annual migration to highland pastures. There was persistent demand from the migratory tribal community that they face a lot of hardships during migration due to traffic jams and other hindrances and to make their journey smoother they should be provided some transportation mode.
It was observed that sometimes due to harsh weather conditions there used to occur huge losses of livestock and other damages to tribal families. The budget announcement made by the Finance Minister mentioned that transportation viz-a-viz transit facilities will be provided to the migratory tribal population.
The transportation system put in place by the Tribal Affairs Department will reduce the travel time from 20-30 days on foot to 1-2 days while it will also help in smooth management of traffic. These trucks have been deployed both on National Highway-44 and Mughal Road. More trucks are being inducted this year by the department to ensure coverage of 100% families.
