In Uttarakhand Governor’s speech in the Uttarakhand Assembly, the Vijay Bahuguna Government announced a slew of proposals for the minorities in Uttarakhand.

Here are they:

1) To fulfill Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for the minorities, the Uttarakhand Government proposed to link the Minorities Finance Commission with leading banks. The Maulana Azad Education Finance Foundation would be set up that would extend loans to the members of minority communities.

2) To promote Urdu language, separate departments would be set up at Kumaon and Garhwal Universities. The government would also set up Urdu and Persian boards and to promote education among the minority communities.

3) A full-fledged ministry on minority affairs would be created.

4) To encourage employment among women of the minority communities, financial assistance would be given through self-help groups and loans for establishing small- scale industries.

5) Provision of traditional rights to Van Gujjars residing in the forests. It also promised to develop Piran Kaliyar and Hemkunt Sahib as pilgrimage entities.

All the above proposals are alright; except the fifth one: Provision of traditional rights to Van Gujjars residing in the forests.

Giving traditional rights to Van Gujjars residing in the forests, can be detrimental to the Forests in which they venture. Notably, there ruminating animals damage not only the pastures in forests, but also are a source of diseases to wild animals.
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