'Immigrants encroaching tribal areas'

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Aug 9: Aruchal Pradesh Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa today said illegal migrants are encroaching upon tribal areas in Assam and cautioned that this is posing a grave threat to the State.

"Non-tribals, especially illegal migrants are encroaching tribal areas in Assam. This is a big threat to the State. We need to be alert," he said, speaking at the valedictory function of the regiol semir on Vision Document for the STs, organized by Vavasi Kalayan Ashram at Shilpagram here.

Rajkhowa, also a former Chief Secretary of Assam, rued that there is no proper data on tribal people in the State. "There is no clear-cut data on the tribals of Assam, or for that matter in other states of Northeast. We need to sort this out," he said.

Rajkhowa maintained that the reservation policy for tribals was doing more harm than good to the communities. "This has affected the spirit of competition among the tribal people. However, in sports, where there is no reservation, tribal people are in the forefront. This is the irony," he said.

Underlining the importance of ecting the Forest Rights law, Rajkhowa called for speedy development of tribal villages in the border areas.

He also said that inter-state border skirmishes were mostly "politically motivated". The Aruchal Governor also felt that non-tribals in Sixth Schedule areas are not being given equal treatment, which has led to conflicts in many places.  Speaking at the semir, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs MD Vasava said the Vanbandhu Kalyan Yoja, aimed at holistic development and welfare of tribal population of India, will be launched on pilot basis in ten states including Assam soon.

He also said the Central government intends to set fixed time-frames for developmental goals in the Northeast region, to bring it on par with the rest of the country.