The Centre will deposit Rs. 2,000 crore into the bank accounts of 36,000 Hindu refugees from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), a senior Home Ministry official said.
“Each PoK refugee would get Rs. 5.5 lakh in his or her bank account, and the Centre will bear the cost,” the official said.
Currently, violent protests have erupted in the Valley against domicile certificates being issued by the State government to 19,000 west Pakistan refugees, mostly Hindus, who came to India after Partition, but are yet to be given any voting rights or financial package.
The west Pakistan refugees have been demanding a similar package for a long-time, but the previous J&Kgovernment had vehemently opposed the move.
However, packages for PoK refugees were cleared by the Union Cabinet in November and the “resettlement fund” will be disbursed once the figures and data of refugees are compiled.
What is the process?
The Home Ministry has sought bank account details of all the families from the State government as it intends to transfer the money directly into their accounts instead of giving it to the State government.
This is for the first time that the Centre has allocated Rs.2,000 crore for providing relief instead of setting up a State-Centre committee first to examine their demands,the official further explained.
Who are PoK refugees?
The refugees from West Pakistan, mostly from PoK, settled in different areas of Jammu, Kathua and Rajouri districts. However, they are not permanent residents of the state in terms of Jammu and Kashmir Constitution.
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 Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
Jammu and Kashmir Sharanarthi Action Committee (JKSAC), an organisation representing the displaced people of the PoK has been maintaining that the package should not be seen as final settlement as Rs 9,200 crore was required to settle all of them.
The Modi government had in January 2015 approved certain concessions for the refugees from West Pakistan settled in Jammu and Kashmir after considering the problems being faced by them.
The concessions include special recruitment drives for induction into paramilitary forces, equal employment opportunities in the state, admission for the children of refugees in Kendriya Vidyalayas, among others.
