The Jammu and Kashmir government’s flagship initiative for Transhumance, completed one month today, setting a record for the number of families benefitted.
The Tribal Affairs Department in the month of September notified the schedule for providing free transport service to migratory tribal families from highland pastures in Kashmir to villages and plains in the Jammu region.
The service, which began on 25 September have been extended for two weeks and more than 12,000 families have availed of it. The respective District Administrations set up dedicated helplines and a central IVRS Call Centre based helpline of the department. Nodal officers were appointed at the district level and the availability of transport facilities was announced on the radio to disseminate information in highland summer pastures.
Transhumance, the migration of ethnic tribal families between winter and summer pastures, is a geopolitical phenomenon observed in nearly 20 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and some parts of America. Jammu and Kashmir has the world’s largest population of transhumant/migratory tribal families as per the 1st Survey of Transhumance conducted by the tribal affairs department in 2021, which recorded a 6.12 lakh population.
In September, the service was initiated with more than 300 trucks and several vehicles hired by the Deputy Commissioners as per the number of families registered. Several hundred families returning from Kargil in Ladakh were also provided service. Now a fleet of 400 trucks has been provided.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, earlier this year, announced the launch of a scheme for providing transport facilities to the migratory tribal population in J&K. Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta revised the plan of the tribal affairs department for transportation support, and recently the State Administrative Council approved the proposal as a policy to be implemented twice a year during migration for which funds have been earmarked in the budget of the department. The service is being provided through J&K Road Transport Corporation and DCs have been authorised to hire additional vehicles as per requirement.
Shahid Choudhary, Secretary, Tribal Affairs Dept., informed that till 2021, no data on transhumance was available, depriving the huge tribal population of welfare schemes and development. Based on the survey, many initiatives and schemes were planned and rolled out in a very short time.
The tribal affairs department also rolled out the transit facilities network for the migratory populations to be put in place through the respective districts’ administration. It has also introduced various technology-based services to ease migration and make efforts towards Sustainable Development Goals.
