Himachal Government was according top priority on development of the tribal areas of the State and a provision of Rs 711 crore has been made in the current financial year budget under the Tribal Area Sub Plan which was Rs 72 crore more than the previous year budget allocation, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Saturday.
Presiding over the review meeting of Tribal Development Department here, he said that in addition to the regular State budget allocation under the Tribal Sub Plan, an amount of Rs 34.74 crore has been allocated under Section 275(1) of the constitution by the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry. He said that in addition to this, Rs 15.45 crore has been provided by the Union Home Ministry under the Border Area Development Programme.
Thakur said that one Eklavya Adarsh Residential School has been established in Kinnaur district and three more Adarsh Schools have been started from academic session 2019-20 at Khani in Bharmour, Baring in Lahaul and Kawas in Pangi to provide better educational facilities to the students of these tribal areas. He said that Himachal Pradesh Eklavya Model Residential School Management Society have been registered for proper management of these schools. He said that the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry has provided Rs 33.36 crore for construction of buildings of these Vidyalayas.
He said that the tribal areas have immense tourism potential and the Atal Tunnel would prove a boon to the Lahaul valley, adding that for convenience to the tourists and to provide basic facilities to the people besides heli taxi operations and a provision of helipad has been made on both North and South Port of Atal
Tunnel. He said that way side amenities would also be developed to attract more tourists to this area.