Early Times Report
JAMMU, Oct 12: The Union government's announcement of relief of Rs. 5.5 Lakhs to left out 5300 Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) refugee families has created confusion as according to the announcement, the relief would only be disbursed to those, who had resettled to Jammu and Kashmir and if go by such order, the 5300 families will not benefited as they are still settled in other states.
According to the announcement made by Union Minister Prakash Javedkar, which was widely published across media channels, it reads, "Union Cabinet approved a one-time payment of Rs 5.5 lakh as a resettlement package for the 5,300 displaced families which had come from POK after partition and initially settled outside Jammu and Kashmir but later relocated to the State". Though some section of Refugees has welcomed the announcement but some have raised questions over the language of the announcement.
Sources said that in the PRO Office Jammu, over 450 applications of POK refugees were pending who were not covered under the previous package, announced in year 2016. "That package was for the POK refugees, who had been residing in Jammu and Kashmir but 450 families had settled to other states for a brief period and resettled in Jammu and Kashmir but were not given package which had covered over 26, 400 families. According to new announcement, these 450 families will be benefited and not the 5300", sources said.
They further claimed that it was explicitly mentioned in the announcement that the relief package of Rs. 5.5 Lakhs per family would be disbursed to those left over POK families, who had settled to other states but resettled in Jammu and Kashmir. "We want to make it clear that these left over 5300 families are still residing in other states and had never resettled anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir. If go by the announcement, the case of 5300 families for relief will again caught in the language hurdles and will be deprived of the benefit for more time", sources said, adding that government should issue clarification over the matter.
Senior leader of Movement for Justice to Refugees of 1947 (MJR-1947), Suchwant Singh said that government should take cognizance of the matter and if found any such discrepancy, same should be rectified so that remaining 5300 families, which were still settled in other states would be benefited from the announcement. |
