Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 2: Following intensive pressure from the Congress Ministers, State Cabinet today directed the Revenue Department to move fresh memorandum on Rs 7000 crore worth package prepared for all sorts of refugees. The resubmission of this package was necessitated as no headway could be made on the same since last year due to referring of the package to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Justice Sageer Committee report, which forced the Congress Ministers to lodge strong protest.
Sources told EXCELSIOR that when the Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah this evening, was discussing the revised package for the Kashmiri migrants, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Sham Lal Sharma sought to know the reason behind giving step motherly treatment to the displaced persons of 1947, 1965 and 1971.
“I have failed to understand as to why there are different yardsticks for Kashmiri migrants and refugees”, sources said quoting Sham Lal Sharma, adding “the PHE Minister even said that this is a human issue and needs to be resolved sympathetically”.
Expressing serious concern over the hanging fate of Rs 7000 crore package prepared by the Revenue Department for these refugees, Mr Sharma, according to the sources, said, “this indicates that they are being sidelined by the Government despite the fact that much exercise has already been carried out for their one time settlement”.
“There was no justification behind referring the refugees’ package to the Cabinet Sub-Committee examining Justice Sageer Committee report merely on the ground that Justice Sageer had also deliberated upon the issues of displaced persons”, sources further said quoting PHE Minister’s remarks in the Cabinet.
He was joined by another Congress Minister, Raman Bhalla, who said, “we should not treat Kashmiri migrants and refugees differently”. Even National Conference Minister, Ajay Kumar Sadhotra supported the issue projected by the Congress Ministers.
After intense pressure from the Congress Ministers in the Cabinet meeting, the Revenue Department was directed to move fresh memorandum on Rs 7000 crore worth package prepared for all sorts of refugees for the consideration of the Cabinet, sources informed.
“As no time-frame was fixed for the Revenue Department in this regard, the Congress Ministers have reportedly decided to get the same placed before the Cabinet very shortly”, sources said.
It is pertinent to mention here that a high-powered Congress delegation led by JKPCC chief Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz had called on the then Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and stressed the need for one time settlement of refugees. The memorandum submitted by the Congress delegation to the Prime Minister was then sent to J&K Government.
Even the then Union Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad vociferously pleaded the case of refugees at various forums and tried to build consensus on the issue.
Following this, the Revenue Department prepared Rs 7000 crore worth package for the refugees and submitted the same to the General Administration Department for the consideration of the Cabinet. However, the General Administration Department forwarded the Revenue Department’s Cabinet memorandum to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Justice Sageer Committee report and since then the fate of the package is hanging in balance.
“All the issues of refugees have been addressed in the package on which the Revenue Department had already held detailed discussions with all the stakeholders”, they said, adding “almost all the demands of the refugees like reservation in professional colleges, compensation against land deficiency as per market value, conferring of ownership rights/tenancy rights on land allotted to Chhamb refugees, disposal of pending applications for compensation etc have been incorporated in the package”.
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