STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU : Jammu Kashmir Sharnarthi Action Committee in a meeting held at Jammu urged upon the State Govt, to recommend Rs 30 lakh as relief to each family of displaced persons of 1947 from PoK in lieu of their left out properties till the final registration and assessment of their lost properties is made alongwith reservation for their wards in State and Central Government services as per the recommendations made by Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs. The issues pertaining to State Govt, should be resolved as per the spirit of Permanent Settlement Act of Displaced Persons passed by State Legislature in 1971 which has been kept in abeyance till date merely for political reasons.
In the back-drop of the meeting held by Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Nirmal Kumar Singh with the representatives of DPs regarding their settlement issues, Gurdev Singh President reacted upon the cold response shown by Dr. Nirmal Singh wherein he stated that it is very complicated issue which needs thorough examination. This has hurt deeply the aspirations and expectation of DPs who have pinned great hopes on coalition partners. He regretted and expressed his concern over the vindictive approach causing delay in taking up the issue on priority as committed. He further said that despite firm commitment given by both the coalition partners before and after the polls and also keeping the same in the Common Minimum Program, no concrete steps have been taken so far.
He further said that Mufti Mohd Sayeed has very cleverly shifted the responsibility on the shoulders of BJP by announcing to form a committee to settle the issue under the chairmanship of Dr. Nirmal Singh which has yet to see the light of the day. He said that it is now for BJP to show proper concern to take up the issue and force its alliance partners to accept and resolve the DPs settlement issue by asking the Central Govt, to pay on account relief compensation to DPs in lieu of their left-out properties.
He cautioned the government to pay more focus on the settlement issues of DPs and should not be sidetracked politically by Valley centric parties who have always created hurdles to halt this settlement issue with help of bureaucracy. He urged upon both coalition partners to take up the issue seriously awaiting its resolution for the last more than six decades and cautioned them not to commit the mistake to dump the issue like Congress Party which finally met its Waterloo in recent elections.
Others who addressed the meeting include Ch. Rishi Ram, Prof. Harbans Singh, Anil Gupta and Advocate Hardev Singh.
