Meira in Sikkim to review her Ministry's schemes

New Delhi, June 12 (UNI) Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar, who began a three-day visit of Sikkim today, would inaugurate the regional meeting of the State Channelising Agencies and Welfare Secretaries of Eastern and North-Eastern States at Gangtok tomorrow.

The meeting will also review various schemes of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in operation in the region.

She will also inaugurate a Disability Camp at STNM Hospital in Gangtok and distribute aids and appliances to disabled beneficiaries. The camp is being organised jointly by ALIMCO, District Disability Rehabilitation Centre (Gangtok) and the Government of Sikkim.

Besides, she will also open an exhibition of the products made by the beneficiaries of National Backward Classes Finance Development Corporation.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is running several schemes for empowerment of the marginalised sections in Sikkim.

These include Special Central Assistance to Special Component Plan to supplement efforts of the State for ensuring rapid socio-economic development of the scheduled castes.

The Ministry is also helping the state government in strengthening the judicial and administrative enforcement of the Protection Civil Rights Act, 1955 and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and also in generating awareness about the Act.

Assistance is also being provided for rehabilitation of SC/ST victims of atrocities.

One more scheme is being run to upgrade the merit of SC students in class IX to XII by arranging remedial and special coaching for them so that they can appear in various competitive entrance examinations for engineering, medical courses etc.

For economic development of the SC beneficiaries living below poverty line, the National Scheduled Castes Finance Development Corporation is providing skill training programmes.

The National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation is providing concessional loans to backward classes in the state for undertaking viable income generating activities, an official release here said.

UNI NAZ MP RK1534