Srinagar, Sep 20: Reiterating his government’s endeavour for equitable and inclusive development in the State, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Thursday said that special attention has been focused to ameliorate the lot of weaker sections of the society including Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes, Gujjars, Bakerwals and Other Backward Classes residing across the State.
The Chief Minister said that constitution of various Advisory Boards for these sections is aimed at ensuring holistic welfare and development of the population belonging to these sections in all fields of life.
Chairing a review meeting here this morning to ascertain the status of implementation of various decisions taken in OBC, SC, Gujjar and Bakerwal and Pahari Speaking Advisory Board meetings, the Chief Minister, who is also Chairman of these Boards, received appraisal of implementation of the decisions in detail.
The Chief Minister highlighted the significance of the various Boards in achieving the goal of inclusive development. He said that his government’s endeavour to uplift the weaker sections of the society and provide them equal opportunities of growth and progress receives priority attention adding that the targets set in this regard could be better achieved through the sincere efforts of the Advisory Boards.
Omar Abdullah impressed upon the Boards to devote their fullest attention towards implementation of schemes meant for the development and progress of weaker sections of the society. He gave directions to the Social Welfare Department and other concerned agencies to monitor and ensure benefits of Centre and State sponsored schemes for these sections so that benefits duly percolate to the members of these sections.
The meeting discussed various issues pertaining to the comprehensive development of these sections. Matters relating to enhancement of scholarships, construction of hostels, cultural houses besides other related issues also came up for discussion in the meeting.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Social Welfare, Sakina Itoo, Vice-Chairman of Pahari Advisory Board Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari, Vice-Chairman of Gujjar and Bakerwal Advisory Board B. A. Naaz, Vice-Chairman of Schedule Caste Advisory Board, Swaran Lalta, Vice-Chairman of Other Backward Classes Advisory Board Kuldeep Raj, Chief Secretary Madhav Lal, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, B. B. Vyas, Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development Suresh Kumar, Secretary Social Welfare Department Jeet Lal, various Administrative Secretaries, Heads of various departments and senior officers.
The Secretaries of these Boards in their separate PowerPoint presentations presented resume of the decisions taken in the meetings of these Boards and gave status of the implementation process.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:00:00 IST