Srinagar, May 24: The Jammu & Kashmir Government has extended the timeline of central assistance scheme for persons from Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (POJK) and Chamb refugees of 19651 and 1971 till March 31, 2024 after Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) conveyed its approval for the same.
As per the order copy issued by Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction reads that the extension of the timeline of the scheme, Central Assistance for one time settlement of displaced families of POJK (1947) and Chhamb (1965 & 1971) settled in the Jammu & Kashmir, from March 31,2022 to March 31, 2024 under the Rehabilitation Package approved by the Cabinet on November 30, .2016.
It ordered extension of the scheme- central assistance for one-time settlement of displaced POJK refugees and Chamb refugees of 1965 and 1971- from March 31, 2022 to March 31, 2024 within the approved outlay.
Under the Prime Minister’s Development Package announced on November 7, 2015 by PM Narendra Modi in Srinagar, Rs 2000 crore were kept for the scheme. In its order, the government today said that the scheme shall not be extended beyond sunset of March 31, 2024.
The Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction had requested the MHA on July 12, 2022 and December 9, 2022 to extend the timeline of the scheme.
On May 3, 2023, the MHA conveyed its approval for the scheme till March 31, 2024 under the rehabilitation package approved by the J&K cabinet.
On October 9, 2019, the union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved Inclusion of 5,300 DP families of Jammu & Kashmir-1947 who initially opted to move outside the (erstwhile) state of Jammu & Kashmir but later on returned and settled there, in the Rehabilitation Package approved by it (union cabinet) on November 30, 2016 for Displaced families of PoJK and Chhamb under the PM’s Development Package 2015 for Jammu & Kashmir.
The approval had enabled such DP families to become eligible to get one-time financial assistance of Rs 5.5 lakhs under the existing scheme, and in turn, also able to get some sustained income which the existing scheme was aimed at.
The proposed package was in continuation of a series of relief and rehabilitation packages extended by the Government of India or (erstwhile) state Government of J&K from time to time in the past.
Despite the several rehabilitation packages extended by both central and J&K government in the past by way of agricultural land, housing plots, houses and other facilities along with cash assistance, the Displaced Persons (DPs) of PoJK and Chhamb had been approaching the government time and again for payment of compensation against properties they were forced to part with due to war and hostilities.
