New Delhi: So, there’s no place for the Kashmiri Pandits to call their own. The government denied any plan to create exclusive zones in Jammu & Kashmir to resettle Kashmiri Pandits, clearing the air around recent reports that dedicated townships were being set up to house displaced migrants.
This got clarified when minister of state for home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary said, “No proposal to create separate zones exclusively for Kashmiri pandits in the state of Jammu & Kashmir is under consideration.” This came in reply to a question by nine MPs whether there was any proposal to create separate zones for Kashmiri pandits,
The opposition National Conference in J&K as well as Kashmiri separatist groups had protested building exclusive townships for Kashmiri pandits. However, the state government had clarified that the township would have mixed population of pandits, Muslims, Sikhs as well as Buddhists from Ladakh.
Replying to written questions regarding rehabilitation of Kashmiri pandits, Chaudhary said Kashmiri migrants were being paid an enhanced cash relief from Rs 1,650 to Rs 2,550 per head from May 1.
The ceiling for cash relief per family was also raised from Rs 6,600 to Rs 10,000. This was being paid to nearly 21,700 of the 62,000 families registered as Kashmiri migrants.
(With agency inputs)
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