Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Jan 20: Union Minority Affairs Minister, Najma Heptulla, today expressed regret over the suicide of a Dalit student at Hyderabad Central University and said the reasons behind what led him to take the extreme step should be found out.
“I do not know the whole details. What led the youth to take such a step will be found out by the people there who are trying to find out the reason,” Heptulla told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Kashmir University here.
Expressing sympathy with the deceased student’s family, the Union Minister said this kind of incidents should not occur in the country.
Heptulla said Government does not differentiate the people on the basis of caste, creed or religion and children should only be seen as children not divided.
The Union Minister said her meeting with People’s Demo-cratic Party (PDP) president and Member Parliament, Mehbooba Mufti, was apolitical and there was no discussion on the Government formation in the State. “I had known Mufti Sayeed personally and had worked with him. I had been with him, with the party, in Jammu and Kashmir since 1986. It was my duty to offer condolences on his demise, so I went to his residence.
Earlier Heptulla inaugurated the establishment of first Skill Development centre at University of Kashmir, Shah-I-Hamdan Memorial Trust Pampore and Comtech IT Educational Trust Srinagar for providing local market determinant skill training to BPL Muslim girls and other minority community.
She said the Skill Development centres will be imparting area specific training and the scheme will ensure employment of all trainees. For J&K, the minister said, the training will be imparted in specific fields like Saffron processing, traditional embroidery, food processing, tourism, handicrafts, information technology, electronic hardware, plumbing and other related fields.
Elaborating the scope of Skill Development centres, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Minority Affairs and chairman of MANAS, D.S.Bhist, said the latest state of art training equipment and trainers will be used at the Skill Development Centre for providing top quality training to poor Muslim girls and other minority communities. “80 per cent or more of the trainee will be provided wage employment and self employment by MANAS,” he said.
The Union Minister for Minority affairs also attended a conference here and highlighted importance of “Ustaad”. The function was organized by Jammu and Kashmir Peace foundation in collaboration with Kashmir Society for interaction of all heads of craft oriented trades, commerce, social organizations and various intellectual forums.
Those who spoke on the occasion also include BJP president Sat Sharma and Ashok Koul.
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