Srinagar, Mar 22 (KNS): Reiterating demand of having comprehensive mechanism for the overall upliftment of Jammu and Kashmir’s tribal population, Congress leader Kadfeen Choudhary on Friday said a special focus on providing quality education to Tribal children is desperately needed.

While interacting with several delegations here, Kadfeen said that it is worrisome to find that the literacy rates of the Tribal communities of Jammu and Kashmir especially the Gujjars and Bakerwals is extremely low as compared to the national and state average.

According to Kadfeen, the literacy rate in India, as per Census 2011, is 73 percent and for STs at national level it is 59 percent only. “But in J&K, only 50 percent tribals are shown literate. The main reasons of the low literacy among tribes are poverty, conflict and topography. “There is a dire need of implementing a comprehensive mechanism by virtue of which exclusive schools for the tribal children are opened in the state in which special focus on the overall intellectual development is given to these children,” said Kadfeen and added that a road map in this regard is being prepared and that he will take up the issue with the government.

The Congress leader said that it is reflection of government’s dilatory mode of functioning that so far the school facility for the state’s tribal populace has been denied by those who are helming the state affairs. (KNS)