STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said his administration will ensure that West Pakistan refugees living in the Union Territory will get land ownership rights.
He said Articles 370 and 35A had denied political rights and other benefits to these refugees and hindered their prosperity and upward mobility.
“There is a demand that you (West Pakistan refugees) don’t have ownership of the land. Ownership rights of land to West Pakistani refugees will be ensured by the UT administration on the directions of the Central government,” Sinha said.
Observing that Article 370 and 35A had denied political rights and other benefits to West Pakistani Refugee families and prevented their scope of progression and upward mobility, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided them the rights enjoyed by other citizens of the country and they are no longer treated as refugees.
He shared the UT Administration’s resolve to extend the benefits of government schemes to their families and reiterated the commitment to work for the larger interest of the displaced families
Sinha said the special Governance Camp aims to resolve grievances, verification of pending cases, awareness about various welfare and self employment schemes and placement drive with focus on eligible candidates from displaced families.
“The Government is working with dedication and commitment to realise the dreams of the community. It is a fresh dawn, which offers the people limitless possibilities and a new hope to the youth. We will ensure they become architects of J&K’s strong and prosperous tomorrow,” added the Lt Governor.
“Governance camp will act as an institutional structure to effectively resolve all the pending cases within a time frame and mitigate the problems of farmers. Our thrust will be on measures for economic and social development, social justice and equality,” observed the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor assured every possible support and assistance from the government to the youth of West Pakistani refugee families in their entrepreneurial and business ventures. He also said all the opportunities for skill development and sports will be provided to the youth.
Youth must come forward and avail the benefits of all schemes and programmes of Mission Youth, he added.
The Lt Governor distributed sanction letters to the beneficiaries of different Government Schemes. He also interacted with the representative of West Pakistan Refugees and assured appropriate redressal of their issues and demands.
The Camps for employment generation and grievance redressal will be organized at different districts till 10th May 2023. Earlier, the UT Administration has organized Special Governance Camps for Kashmiri Migrants and Displaced Persons of PoJK to ensure saturation of social security schemes, self-employment and skilling.
Bharat Bhushan, Chairperson DDC Jammu; Ramesh Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Jammu; Labha Ram Gandhi, President WPR Association; members of West Pakistani Refugee families, Senior Officers of UT administration were present on the occasion.