Published 14:50 IST, February 3rd 2025
Centre to Double Funding for Tribal Development in Jammu and Kashmir
In an exclusive chat with Republic, Tribal Affairs Minister Javed Rana has said that Centre will almost be doubling the funding for tribal development in J&K.

New Delhi: In a major boost to development of Tribal Population in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Govt has principally agreed to almost double the funding for the uplift of the community. Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet Minister Javed Rana said that Union Govt has agreed to increased funding based on new census after addition of ST-2 category, this comes after Tribal Affairs Minister Javed Rana met Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram in New Delhi.
Speaking to Republic World, Tribal Affairs Minister Javed Rana said that all the funding for tribal affairs come from Central Govt and with few new projects, we met the Tribal Affairs Minister. "We proposed new Tribal University, Skill development program, Tribal Medical College among other issues were discussed and principally all have been agreed upon and a DPR will be sent soon to Union Govt. We are hopeful of increased funding as we now have more tribal communities under Scheduled Tribe- 2 category," he said.
"The funding that we were getting earlier was for the categories that were listed in the past but now with addition of Scheduled Tribe- 2 category, we requested for increased funding as per new population census. This will increase funding, and it will help in overall development of the Tribal category", he added.
"The previous Governments starting from Sheikh Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and now JK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is concerned for the tribal population of the region and in days to come, the new dawn of development will begin for Tribal Population of Jammu and Kashmir," Rana told Republic.
In March last year, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha orders that after addition of four new tribes i.e. Pahari Ethnic Group, Paddari Tribe, Kolis and Gadda Brahmins, to the Scheduled Tribes (ST-2) Order as applicable to the J&K by the Parliament, the Administrative Council approved 10% reservation in favour of newly added tribes taking the overall reservation for STs to 20%. The move is widely being opposed by many, and Omar Abdullah Government has also formed a Cabinet Sub-Committee to look into it.
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Updated 14:50 IST, February 3rd 2025