Govt Clears Rs 2,000 Crore Package For Displaced Families From PoK
36,348 families were chosen for the distribution of the package, under which each will get around Rs 5.5 lakh.
The Cabinet approved a Rs 2,000 crore development package for displaced familes from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Chhamb on Wednesday.
The decision to roll out the package was made back in August. The Jammu and Kashmir government had already identified 36,348 families for distribution of the package under which each family will get around Rs 5.5 lakh.
The refugees from West Pakistan, mostly from PoK, settled in different areas of Jammu, Kathua and Rajouri districts. However, they are not permanent residents of the state according to the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.
Some of the families were displaced during partition in 1947, and others during the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan.
The displaced people can cast their votes in Lok Sabha polls but not in the elections to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
Jammu and Kashmir Sharanarthi Action Committee (JKSAC), an organisation representing the displaced people of the PoK has been maintaining that the package should not be seen as the final settlement since Rs 9,200 crore was required to settle all of them.
(Inputs: PTI)
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