NEW DELHI: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitching for the rights of those living in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan regions of Pakistan, the government has proposed a Rs 2,000-crore package for people displaced from PoK living in India.
The home ministry is expected to place the details of the package before the Cabinet for approval soon, senior ministry officials said.
It is learnt that J&K government has identified 36,348 such families which will get around Rs 5.5 lakh each. Refugees from Pakistan, mostly from PoK, were settled in different parts of Jammu, Kathua and Rajouri districts over a period of time. They do not have the status of permanent residents.
Some of the families were displaced during partition in 1947, and others during the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan. The displaced people can cast their votes in Lok Sabha polls but not in the elections to the Jammu & Kashmir assembly.
Jammu and Kashmir Sharanarthi Action Committee (JKSAC), an organisation representing the displaced people of PoK, has maintained that the package should not be seen as final settlement as Rs 9,200 crore was required to settle all of them.
The NDA government had in January 2015 approved certain concessions for refugees from Pakistan settled in J&K after considering their problems. These includes special recruitment drives for induction into paramilitary forces, equal employment opportunities in the state and admission for children of refugees in Kendriya Vidyalayas.
Modi had for the first time talked about the plight of people of PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan at an all-party meeting convened to discuss the J&K situation on August 12. Three days later, while addressing the nation on Independence Day, he again referred to the three regions under the control of Pakistan.
The government has maintained that PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan are part of J&K. There have been reports that the government is planning to invite the diaspora from PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan for the next Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas to be held in Bengaluru.
Bureau Report
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