War victims get sop after 30yrs

The amount may not be much by today’s standards, yet it’s no small victory for Jammu & Kashmir Sharnarthi Action Committee. Since 1978, the Committee, aided by a few other forums, has been fighting for the cause of these 9,500 families.

It will be interesting to note how slow the wheels of bureaucracy have moved all along for the affected persons. Acting on the Committee’s plea, the Central Government set up the R.D. Commission to look into the matter. In 1998, the Commission recommended relief to these persons. But the Government was apparently not satisfied.

Elaborate inter-ministerial consultations took place to work out a scheme for the victims. The go-ahead for compensation came recently, but a final hurdle still exists for compensation-seekers.

According to the Home Ministry officials today, a committee — headed by Jammu’s divisional commissioner — has been constituted to “identify, scrutinise and verify genuine eligible claimants for compensation.” This Committee, say officials, has already held two meetings recently and would soon be through with its work.

In a related development, say Ministry officials, the Government has also decided to hand out relief of Rs 25,000 per family to a group of people who were displaced from Pak Occupied Kashmir (POK). These include those who did not migrate between September 1947 and December 1950.

The Home Ministry will also be sanctioning Rs 2 crore to the J&K government — for allotment of plots to people from PoK who have already settled in the state but were not given land earlier.