How long PoJK DPs will be kept waiting for their return: Why not pay them ex-gratia worth assets left behind?

By admin On May 30, 2022

5,300 PoJK DP families staying outside paid ex-gratia of Rs.3500 But denied Rs.5.5 lakh OTS Why ?
Vacation of PoJK : Reply to RS. Q. NO. †2957 21-03- 2018 :
India is committed under Simla Agreement & Lahore Declaration for peaceful & through bilateral discussions
Narendra Modi can open ‘Channels’ but boats have to be peddled by his Colleagues & Bureaucracy.
PoJK DPs, 1st Victim of Pak Aggression not fairly treated in 1st Definition of Domicile of UT of J&K
J&K Govt in 2014 wrongly excluded 5,300 PoJK DP families from PM Package but GoI too upheld that in 2016
There has been no regular Count of 1947 PoJK DPs; still Bureaucracy gives number as total 31,619 Families
The 1st unsung Victims of Pakistani Atrocities-1947 Displaced Families from PoJK

DAYA SAGAR

The 1947 displaced families from the areas occupied by Pakistan are waiting to return to their hearths for nearly 75 years now when India is observing Azadi Ka Amrit Utsav. They have been denied even claims for properties left behind by Government of India quoting technical reasons.
The 183rd report of department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on problems being faced by refugees and displaced persons in J&K was presented to Rajya Sabha on 22nd December, 2014 and also laid on the table of Lok Sabha on 22nd December 2014 can surely give a brief of the socio-economic neglect these families who are surely the 1st unsung Victims of Pakistani Atrocities have been facing / are still facing <: Para 15 of report:1. That problems of DPs of POK are genuine. 2.A lot remains even now to be done for their settlement.3. It was a pity hat whereas the refugees of 1965 and 1971 conflicts have been rehabilitated , the persons displaced as long back as in 1947 are still pleading their case for proper settlement. 4. problems need sympathetic consideration and humanitarian approach by all concerned including Central Government and GOI.at Para 3.2.1.4 that the Committee takes into account the fact that non-registered families are not given proper relief and compensation amount and is of the view that for that purpose, their fresh enumeration is necessary to understand the problems being faced by PoJK DPs and to have updated policy guidelines for them.
The Committee, therefore, recommended that the Government should take adequate steps immediately to ensure official registration of Displaced Persons from PoJK in order to ensure that benefits of schemes meant for refugees and Displaced Persons reach the targeted group. Similarly at Para 3.2.12.3 the Committee desired that one nodal officer may be appointed in Delhi for granting Permanent Resident certificates to POJK DPs living outside the State of J&K as being done for Kashmiri migrants.
The committee went to the extent of saying that rather Government may campaign to attract more and more POJK DPs living in other parts of the country by issuing advertisements in national dailies and the rules for applying the Permanent Resident Certificate may be simplified. At Para:1.3 1 says that as per appraisal from the Ministry of Home Affairs in the wake of Pakistani aggression in Jammu and Kashmir in 1947, mass exodus of population from Pak occupied area of Kashmir (PoK) took place and as per the available records, 31,619 families were registered with the Rehabilitation Organisation, out of which 26,319 families opted to settle down within the State itself and 5,300 families settled outside the State of J&K (Delhi 1,901 families, Maharashtra 123 families, Rajasthan 495 families and other States 2,781 families ) ; and no claims for compensation in lieu of the properties left behind by these displaced persons were invited by the Government of India as PoJK was treated as an integral part of India, as also accordingly the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954 and the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950 are not applicable to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. (As per notification No. 03/ PRO/J&K/2020 PoJK DPs of Delhi (Including NCR), Notification No. 1/ PRO/J&K/2020 (Punjab) PoJK DPs of Punjab (Including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh), Notification No. 02/ PRO/J&K/2020 (Uttar Pradesh), PoJK DPs of UP (Including Uttarakhand) all dated 20-12-2020 issued by Provincial Rehab. Officer (PRO), Jammu and Kashmir mentioning the Unique IDs for the IQUE IDs for the displaced families of 1947 of Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) as recorded with the Provincial Rehabilitation Officer. J&K, Jammu (PRO), but settled outside J&K the number of such families in record 1822+2285+1353= 5460 (refhttp://jkmigrantrelief.nic.in/. What about DPs in other states).
Para 3.2.1.4 The 183rdreport on problems being faced by refugees and displaced persons in J&K that was presented to Rajya Sabha on 22nd December, 2014 says that it takes into account the fact that non-registered families are not given proper relief and compensation amount. The Committee is of the view that for that purpose, their fresh enumeration is necessary.
The Committee also felt that in order to understand the problems being faced by PoJK DPs and to have updated policy guidelines for them, it is appropriate that their enumeration is done at the earliest. The Committee, therefore, recommended that the Government should take adequate steps immediately to ensure official registration of Displaced Persons from PoJK in order to ensure that benefits of schemes meant for refugees and Displaced Persons reach the targeted group.
In Para 3.2.12.3 the Committee even desired that one nodal officer may be appointed in Delhi for granting Permanent Resident certificates to POJK DPs living outside the State of J&K as being done for Kashmiri migrants.

To be continued
(The author is a Sr Journalist / Analyst Jammu & Kashmir Affairs [email protected]).