New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan on Tuesday discussed parliamentary practices in a meeting with a delegation from Cyprus led by H.E. Annita Demetriou, President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, an official said.

During the meeting at Parliament House, VP Radhakrishnan highlighted the long-standing bilateral relationship between India and Cyprus and the importance of continued parliamentary exchanges to further deepen ties between the two nations.

Earlier, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram called on the Vice-President and briefed him on various initiatives of the Ministry.

The briefing covered efforts to secure tribal rights, measures to enhance education and health outcomes, scholarships for tribal students, programmes for the rejuvenation of tribal culture, livelihood schemes including financial assistance and promoting traditional skills as enterprises, the Ministry’s plan to modernise and expand Eklavya Model Residential Schools across the country, and key schemes such as Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, PM-JANMAN and Adi Karmayogi Abhiyan, said a statement by the Vice-President on social media.

The Vice-President appreciated the three-fold increase in budget outlay for the Ministry over the last eleven years and stressed the need to support access to quality higher education — including opportunities abroad — for tribal students, along with continuous support and monitoring of their academic progress.

He emphasised the importance of preventing school dropouts and highlighted the need to build a strong linkage between universities and schools to ensure that tribal students seamlessly transition to higher education.

Radhakrishnan underlined the need to ensure that the benefits of welfare schemes reach all sections of the tribal population. He reiterated that the vision of Viksit Bharat can be realised only when the welfare of the tribal community is ensured.

--IANS

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