India News | Modalities Finalised for Smart Cards to Transhumant Tribal Population

Jammu, Feb 22 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir Tribal Affairs Department has finalised modalities for smart cards to be provided to transhumant tribal families for hassle-free movement during migration and for access to services, officials said on Tuesday.

Transhumanace is the seasonal movement of pastoralist communities, along with their livestock, as a means of livelihood and resource management. They undertake biannual migration between the pastures of Himalayas during summers and the plains during winters.

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The meeting to finalise the design and contents of the smart cards, in coordination with police, Forest Department and Census Operations Department, was chaired by Secretary (Tribal Affairs) Shahid Iqbal Choudhary here, they said.

The officials said the Tribal Research Institute, established as an autonomous body in the Tribal Affairs Department, will coordinate the preparedness of different plans in this regard.

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"A pilot project of 10,000 smart cards will be rolled out in March to be followed by steps for coverage of nearly one lakh migratory families. Aadhaar linkage is also being enabled for benefits of various schemes," an official said.

He said a detailed presentation was made about the survey of migratory population and planned interventions in various sectors.

The smart cards are planned to replace the multiple permissions regime and offer a unified central database to all organisations and agencies for smooth and hassle-free movement of transhumant families during the vertical migration.

Embedded with a chip containing the demographic details, transit routes, place of origin, destination and other vital statistics, these cards will end the process of requiring multiple permissions, the officials said.

They said the cards will also be utilised for the different government services rolled out for the migratory population and will be issued based on a survey conducted by the department last year.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)