Samba, Feb 08: Apni Party Provincial President, Jammu, and Former Minister, S. Manjit Singh has demanded release of full package in favour of the Displaced Persons (DPs) in Jammu region.
“These DPs (refugees) were displaced from their respective places in 1947, 1965 and 1971 following hostility between India and Pakistan whereas then Govt of India announced a package for them i.e., Rs 25 lakhs for each DP family,” said Manjit Singh, while addressing a Block Level Committee, Ramgarh at extreme border village Gokale Chak (P.S. Pura) in District Samba.
The meeting was organized by Block President, Ramgarh, Bachan Choudhary.
In his address, he said that the package was sanctioned, and released in favour of the DPs so that they can be provided some financial support for their rehabilitation by the Govt of India.
“However, the authorities did not fully release the financial package. Instead, they released Rs 5.5 lakhs per family in support of DPs which was insufficient and improper implementation of the package that was sanctioned by the Govt of India,” he stated.
He further said that the DPs remained sidelined and constantly ignored by the authorities regarding the release of pending packages and granting them property rights on the state/custodian department’s land which were allotted to them decades back by the previous Govts.
“To reduce burden from their shoulders and worries about their children, the Govt should give property rights on state/custodian lands to the DPs / farmers along the International Border,” he stated.
While referring to the development and unemployment related issues, he stated that these issues can be addressed by an elected Govt. However, the elections have not been announced in Jammu and Kashmir that has deprived the people from their constitutional rights to elect their own Govt, and get their issues resolved, he added.
He said that the elections should not be delayed, and accordingly, the statehood should be restored to J&K.
He also demanded reservation of 8 Legislative Assembly seats of the Displaced Persons (DPs) while expressing disagreement with the reservation of one Legislative Assembly seat in favour of the DPs in J&K.
“The DPs have a huge population, and they shall be given adequate representation in the assembly because they remained sidelined for decades,” he added.
Meanwhile, he referred to the welfare policies of the Apni Party that would be implemented in Jammu and Kashmir for equitable development in both the regions, if the Party forms the next Govt in the erstwhile state.
He also highlighted the schemes of enhancing the widow pension up to Rs 5000, four cooking gas cylinders to each poor family in a year under Ujjwala scheme, providing 500 units of electricity free of cost and 300 units of electricity during winters in Jammu region, enhancement of marriage assistance up to Rs 1 lakhs in favour of the girls from the economically weaker section, and similar other schemes.
The meeting was also addressed by District President, Legal Cell, Samba, Adv Sahil Bharti.
In his address, Adv Bharti highlighted the issues of underdevelopment, poor road connectivity, irregular drinking water supply, and constant unscheduled power cuts.
