| 3 years on, around fifty percent families await compensation | | Rehabilitation package for 1947 refugees | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 17: The month of October 1947 brought death and destruction for thousands of people, following invasion of erstwhile areas of Poonch, Mirpur and Muzaffarabad by tribal raiders, supported by Pakistan army.
After more than seventy years, refugees of Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir have been remembering those fateful days of October, when thousands of families lost their loved ones, their house and hearth, valuables.
After much delay, the union government had formally announced in 2015, a meager rehabilitation package of Rs. 5.50 Lakh per family but around 14,000 families, out of total 26319 registered families.
Sources informed Early Times that the formalities to avail the Rs. 5.50 Lakhs of package was very cumbersome. "Though Provincial Rehabilitation Office (PRO) is constituted to maintain the record of refugees but to get rehabilitation package of Rs. 5.50 Lakhs, it is the responsibility of a refugee to produce all the documents to prove that he/she belongs to that POJK family, which migrated in 1947", sources said, adding that the state government has been spending huge money to run the department and even funds were sanctioned for digitalization of records, but nothing has been done.
They further said that many of the refugees failed to get the compensation money due to their failure to furnish details. "Apart from 26319 families, there are over 9000 more families of refugees, which were registered but are not entertained by the PRO office for the rehabilitation package of Rs. 5.50 Lakhs", they said.
Criticizing the delay in disbursing the package amount, Convenor of MJR-1947 Suchwant Singh said that their community had suffered immensely during 1947 with killing of over 40,000 and loss of valuables, land, culture, language, tradition etc.
"After repeatedly taking up the matter, package of Rs. 5.50 Lakhs per family was announced against the recommendation of Rs. 25-30 Lakhs. Refugees are in their third generation and many have got merely Rs. 10,000 as their share", Singh said, adding that at least the meager package, must be released in favour of all along with inclusion of left out families for package. |
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