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| PM’s package: Rs 1600 Crores for KPs, Peanuts for PoK refugees, Sympathies for Pak refugees | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Apr 25
As all waited keenly for the packages to come with the Prime Minister’s much desired Jammu visit, it turned out to be a day of Kashmiri Pandits as the refugees from Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Pakistan had to come home with consolations.
The Prime Minister was expected to announce implementation of the recommendations of the Working Groups which he did partly. While announcing the confidence building measures among the segments of society, the Prime Minister announced a comprehensive Rs 1600 Crore package for Kashmiri Pandit migrants. For Pakistan occupied Kashmir refugees of 1947, the Prime Minister announced a Rs 50 Crore package and shared his sympathies with the West Pakistan refugees.
Making public the contours of the rehabilitation package, the Prime Minister said that the Kashmiri Pandit migrant families who had to sell their property in distress and were desirous to return to the Valley would be given assistance of Rs. 7.5 lakh each in one go and asked the State government to identify land for setting up group housing society for them. He said similar assistance in one go had been decided for the families whose houses had been damaged or collapsed. The expenditure of temporary accommodation would also be taken care under this, he added. He said the 15,000 families putting up in Jammu and Delhi provided financial assistance by the government would continue to get it for two years after their return to Kashmir in order to ensure that they did not confront any difficulty.
The Prime Minister said that through the J&K Rehabilitation Council assistance for children of houseless families was under consideration. He said the State government had offered to provide jobs to 6000 Kashmiri Pandit youth. He said out of these, the central government would pay salaries of 3000 youth till they were regularized within a decided timeframe. He said economic package for rest of the youth was being considered after giving them training. He highlighted the need for financial support for the Pandit families whose business was affected by militancy. He said assistance in one go would also be given to those with small agriculture land holdings, adding similar one-go assistance would be provided for rehabilitation of destroyed orchards. He also announced that the government was considering a settlement package for Kashmiri migrants for waiving of interest on loans obtained before migration. He said all these incentives would be available to those who were forced to leave their homes after 1989, adding that the package was decided on the principle that everyone had the right to resettle with peace and dignity on the land of his forefathers.
“The total expenditure on all the above proposals will be a generous Rs.1600 crore. These benefits will apply to all migrant families whether Kashmiri Pandit, Muslim or Sikh who migrated bag and baggage after 1989 and have not been able to return to the valley”, said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister announced the acceptance of the State government proposal for a one time compensation of Rs. 5 lakh each in lieu of the sanctioned job to the families whose members had been killed in militancy. He said under the proposal of the Rehabilitation Council, monthly pension of Rs. 500 for widows had been raised to Rs. 750. He said financial assistance would be given to the children orphaned by any kind of terrorism.
Referring to the problems of the Pakistani refugees in J&K, the Prime Minister said the government was alive to their difficulties. He said under the State's own constitution these people did not qualify for the status of permanent residents of J&K. However, he said, they could not be deprived of other facilities to lead a prosperous life. Accordingly, he said, a special package for them was being formulated. He said admission in technical educational institutions in different parts of the country for their children would be facilitated. He said a special wing in the union finance ministry would be set up to facilitate bank loan for them without the condition of mortgaging of land. He said training would also be imparted to them under skill development initiative of the union government.
Dr. Singh also addressed the problems of the people who migrated from PoK in 1947. He said on the recommendation of the State government, the centre has earmarked Rs. 50 crore for ameliorating their problems. He said the money would be spent on those families having little land holding or were not in a position to purchase land in urban areas for residential purposes. He said steps would be taken to provide compensation under rules to those farmers whose land had come under defence ditches or fencing in border areas. He said instructions had been issued for vacation of educational and health institution buildings under the use of security forces and payment of adequate rent to the owners of private properties. He said he was happy to say that since last year a good headway had been made in this direction. |
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