SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday announced that the Delhi government has scrapped the income ceiling of Rs 26,800 per month for Kashmiri Hindu migrants to avail financial assistance. With this decision, all 1,800 registered migrant families living in the Capital will now receive the monthly relief allowance of Rs 3,250, amounting to nearly Rs 39,000 annually, irrespective of their earnings, reports appearing in the media said.
“Relief is not charity, it is a rightful entitlement arising from historical displacement, and must be granted on humanitarian grounds,” Gupta said in a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office.
The Chief Minister said the move was aimed at removing procedural hurdles that had long hindered the delivery of relief. “This decision will not only make the relief distribution process more efficient but also bring it in line with the provisions already in place in Jammu and Kashmir… These families lost their homes, land and identity, but never compromised their faith in the nation or their culture. For more than three decades, Delhi gave them shelter; now it is our duty to give them respect and protection too,” she said.
The government has also introduced a ‘Special Opportunity Scheme’ that will allow affected families a one-time chance to update details of their members without penalties or recovery of earlier payments. “Records can now be corrected without penalties or recovery of past payments, ensuring transparency and fairness,” the statement said. Officials added that all pending arrears, up to September this year, would be cleared without delay.
Gupta said Kashmiri Hindu families have endured forced exile for over three decades after being displaced by militancy in the Valley. Many of them were resettled in Delhi and adjoining areas in the early 1990s, relying on government support through an ad-hoc monthly allowance. However, she acknowledged that rigid rules, including the income ceiling and difficulties in updating family records, had created immense hardship for the displaced community.
“As a result, no allowance had been released for the past one and a half years,” Gupta noted, calling the reforms “a new ray of hope” for the migrant families.
The relief distribution process, according to the government, will now be simplified and streamlined, with disbursal of payments set to begin shortly.
