Pakistan refugees in J&K get land ownership rights as govt puts them on par with POJK displaced

The decision ends an over seven decade long “discrimination” with the “displaced persons from West Pakistan’’ as they too have been granted proprietary rights on state land as has been the case with people displaced from areas of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), officials said, adding that it shall empower thousands of WPR families settled across the Jammu region.

These families, who were considered “non-state subject” and had no right to cast vote in the Legislative Assembly elections in the erstwhile J&K state, were conferred domicile status by the Government of India in the wake of the August 5, 2019 abrogation of Article 370.

“The decision fulfils demands of all connected families, which have been requesting for ownership rights for past so many decades. Vesting of proprietary right to West Pakistan Displaced Persons on state land would bring them at par with the Displaced Persons of POJK (Pakistan occupied J&K) and their long pending demand will also be fulfilled,’’ an official spokesperson said.

The Administrative Council also approved conferment of proprietary rights upon the Displaced Persons of 1965 in respect of state land. The spokesperson said that the government has always remained committed to provide benefits to the Displaced Persons of 1965 like it has granted to the Displaced Persons of 1947 and 1971, adding that the Revenue Department shall ensure that proper safeguards are built in the operational guidelines to prevent any misuse, such as any unauthorised encroachments on the state land.

A total of 5,764 families, according to official records, had come to Jammu and Kashmir from areas of West Pakistan during the 1947 partition. They were then allotted 4 acres agricultural land per family and settled in the districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua. Their numbers, at present, has swelled over to 22,170 families.

According to Labha Ram Gandhi, a prominent WPR leader, only 20 per cent of those families had got agricultural land. In this connection, he pointed out that a total of 46,666 kanals (equivalent to 5,833.25 acres) of land at the rate of 4 acres each family was allotted to them on arrival from West Pakistan.

Gandhi who hailed the decision, however, said that only 50 per cent of this land was state land and the remaining was “evacuee land” as the same belonged to local Muslim residents of J&K who had migrated to Pakistan in the wake of 1947 Partition. The administration would also clear its stand on the evacuee land, which has been under the possession of the WPRs, he added.

Earlier, the Centre had on June 13, 2018 implemented a scheme for providing one-time financial assistance of Rs 5.5. lakh per family to 5,764 WPR families. With a total outlay of Rs 317.02 crore, the government had fixed March 31, 2021 as timeline for covering these families.

However, due to non-receipt of authenticated proposals from the then J&K government, there was no disbursement of financial assistance during the years 2018-19 and 2019-20, making the Central government to extend the scheme up to March 31, 2024.

According to Labha Ram Gandhi, of the 5,764 WPRs registered in 1947, only 1,890 families have been provided financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each so far. He said that he recently met the Union minister in the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, to urge him to expedite the disbursement of financial assistance among the remaining families.