Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 11: A total of 31,619 displaced families from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) got registered after 1947 and of them, 26,319 families settled in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said in Lok Sabha that 5,300 more families initially registered with Jammu and Kashmir but subsequently moved to other parts of the country.
Further, during the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, a total of 10,065 families registered as displaced families from Chhamb Niabat from across the border, he said in a written reply to a question.
Reddy said both the central government and the government of Jammu and Kashmir have been providing several relief and rehabilitation packages from time to time to the displaced families of PoJK and Chhamb.
For the displaced families of 1947 which stayed in Jammu and Kashmir, the government of Jammu and Kashmir had allotted agricultural land ranging from 4-8 acres per family.
Those who settled in urban areas were provided plots/quarters besides cash ex-gratia of Rs 3,500 per family. For those families which did not get land allotted according to prescribed scales, cash compensation was sanctioned by government of India against land deficiency.
The minister said others were allotted land/plot/quarter as per fixed scale for their rehabilitation. The displaced families which did not settle in Jammu and Kashmir were paid an ex-gratia of Rs 3,500 per family at the time of their registration.
For the displaced families of 1965 and 1971, agricultural land at the rate of 4 acres (irrigated) or 6 acres (un-irrigated) was allotted.
A cash compensation of Rs 3,000 per family for displaced families of 1965 and Rs 7,500 per family for 1971 was also paid.
The families of 1965 which did not settle in camps set up by the government, were also paid Rs 25,000 per family as ex-gratia later on. The entire process of rehabilitation of displaced families was overseen by Chhamb Displaced Persons Rehabilitation Authority (CDPRA), Reddy said.
“In order to mitigate the hardships of the displaced families, the Government of India under the Prime Minister’s Development Package-2015, had approved a rehabilitation package with an outlay of Rs. 2000 crores on 22nd December, 2016. Under the package, financial assistance of Rs. 5.5 lakh per family (Central share is Rs.5,49,692 and the State share Rs. 308) was provided to the 36,384 displaced families of PoJK and Chhamb, who settled in Jammu & Kashmir,” the Minister said.
As per the scheme, he added, eligible beneficiaries are identified by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir and their proposals duly authenticated are forwarded to the Government of India for release of financial assistance.
Thereafter, he said, the Central share as well as the State share of financial assistance is disbursed every month on regular basis to the beneficiaries directly in their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode. Since inception of the scheme, a total amount of Rs. 1277.31 crores has been disbursed to 29,490 beneficiaries up to 31st January, 2020.
In September, 2019, the Government of India has further approved the inclusion of those displaced families of PoJK, out of 5,300 families, who initially moved out of Jammu and Kashmir, but later returned and settled in Jammu and Kashmir. Such families will also be eligible for the financial assistance of Rs. 5.5 lakh per family.
The rehabilitation packages apply to all registered families which got displaced from PoJK and Chhamb, irrespective of their religion. Disbursements will be made to all eligible beneficiaries authenticated by Government of Jammu and Kashmir, until the close of the scheme, which is up to 31st March, 2021, Reddy said.
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