Jammu, Feb 15: Apni Party Provincial President, Jammu and former minister, S. Manjit Singh on Thursday demanded release of full package in favour of the Displaced Persons/Refugees in Jammu and Kashmir that was sanctioned by the then Government of India.
“The DPs/Refugees have been waiting for the release of their package that was sanctioned by the then Govt of India i.e. Rs 25 lakhs per family. However, the total sanctioned amount was not released, but hollow promises were made,” Singh said while addressing a meeting of Apni Party Workers in Ramgarh. The meeting was organized by District President Legal Cell, Samba, Adv Sahil Bharti.
The former minister said the government has released Rs 5.5 lakhs per family in favour of the DPs/Refugees whereas the same amount is not released even to some of the left-out families citing reasons of formalities. “The revenue officials have made the formalities to claim the package amount difficult that is why many families could not even get Rs 5.5 lakhs despite repeated appearances before the concerned authorities,” he said.
Manjit also expressed his concern over the delay in releasing the sanctioned amount i.e. Rs 25 lakhs in total for each DP/Refugee family. He said these families have poor financial background after they left their agricultural land and houses in 1947, 1965 and 1971 and were compelled to migrate to safer areas.
“Thereafter, the government allotted them land in border areas. These lands belong to the Custodian Department. For decades, these DPs/Refugees cultivated and protected the land, but they were not given any kind of property right on the land which they protected for decades, he reminded while asking the government to consider his plea on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
The Apni Party leader said the government should consider the long standing demands of the thousands of families who lived on the custodian land for three to four generations and give them legal / proprietary rights on the custodian land in Jammu region. He said the families are unable to get any kind of benefit because their claims are not settled or accepted by the authorities.
At the same time, Majit highlighted demand for compensation to the farmers whose agricultural land has come under the fence on the International Border, and these farmers were unable to cultivate their land again. “As the land is being used for defence purposes, the Government of India should give adequate compensation to the concerned farmers,” he demanded.
Singh also demanded improvement in development in villages in Ramgarh while chairing the meeting of the party workers.
