SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir had a Scheduled Tribe (ST) population of 12,75,106 as per the 2011 Census, the Centre informed Parliament on Thursday, adding that updated figures would be available only after the next population census is released.
In a written reply to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey said the Union Government continues to implement several welfare and development schemes for Scheduled Tribe communities across the country, including in Jammu and Kashmir.
The schemes include the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for improving infrastructure and basic services in tribal villages, PM JANMAN for the development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), Eklavya Model Residential Schools, scholarship programmes, grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution, livelihood initiatives, concessional credit, and research and capacity-building programmes.
The minister also informed the House that reservation for Scheduled Tribes in administrative services under Union Territory administrations follows the Department of Personnel and Training’s reservation policy, which provides 7.5 per cent reservation in direct recruitment at the all-India level. In Union Territories with substantial ST populations, higher reservation in local cadre recruitment may be provided by the respective UT administration in proportion to the local ST population.
