The Centre is working on a two-pronged strategy in a bid to contain the damage caused by sustained turbulence in the Kashmir Valley by putting in place a slew of financial measures in the next few days that would not only target refugees from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but also put development, with special focus on employment creation for the youth, on the fast track.
While the government is making a concerted bid to reach out to the people of PoK as well as those from Gilgit and Baltistan regions the Centre is planning a comprehensive package for the displaced people from these areas living in India. In addition, the home ministry has also expedited the process of releasing most of the funds as part of the whopping Rs 80,000-crore development package announced for the state by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
The MHA and the J&K government are together working out the details for a comprehensive Rs 2,000-crore package for PoK refugees that will be sent to the Union Cabinet for formal approval within a month. The home ministry will then swiftly begin disbursement of funds to the displaced families.
Sources said that as of now 36,348 displaced families from PoK, Gilgit and Baltistan now living in India had been identified, and each of them are expected to be given around Rs 5.5 lakhs each. Most of these families relocated to India during the 1947 Partition and after the wars of 1965 and 1971 with Pakistan. Most of them are living in various parts of Jammu, Rajouri and Kathua districts.
These issues, the sources said, were also discussed at a high-level security review meeting chaired by home minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday along with BJP chief Amit Shah, finance minister Arun Jaitley and PMO minister of state Jitendra Singh.
The MHA’s Kashmir division has, meanwhile, now been directed to expedite the release of funds that were earlier announced by the PM. “A major focus of this package from now on will also be on creating new employment opportunities for the youth of the state. We feel that unemployment among youth is a major reason why they are getting lured into the agitation and stone-pelting by the separatists,” a senior government official said. The Prime Minister had during the all-party meeting on J&K on August 12 stressed that PoK, Gilgit and Baltistan were an integral part of J&K. Later, in his Independence Day speech too, the PM had touched upon this issue.
T]he security review meeting also discussed the proposed Kashmir visit by the all-party delegation and the possible dates for it, though it is expected to be some time in the first week of September. Sources said the all-party team is expected to be led by the home minister, and in all probability will visit the Valley on September 3, where it will hold a dialogue with a cross-section of people. The separatists, including the Hurriyat, may also be invited for the talks.
Ad]ditional paramilitary forces are being kept on standby in case the situation worsens further in the Valley. The MHA had rushed 26 companies of the BSF, comprising around 2,600 personnel, to the Valley last week. It was after a span of more than a decade that the BSF was once again deployed in Srinagar to contain stone-pelting mobs.
