KL Report
SRINAGAR
After recommended by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), the union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has approved certain concessions for refugees from West Pakistan settled in Jammu and Kashmir.
JPC including ten members from the Rajya Sabha, had strongly recommended Permanent Resident Certificate and voting right for the West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs) and Rs 30 lakh package per family of the WPRs and displaced persons from Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK).
Sources said that the Minister has directed Chiefs of all Central Armed Police Forces(CAPFs) that those refugees who are Indian citizens and have valid voter Id cards, be considered for recruitment.
The Home Minister according to sources has also written to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar suggesting him to accord similar concessions, by waiving off condition of producing Domicile certificate.
Sources said that Singh also wrote a letter to Jammu and Kashmir Government urging to resume the issuing of the DC to such people settled in the State.
Reliable sources said that on the directions of the Home Minister, instructions are given to the Department of School Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development to accommodate children of these refugees for admission to the Kendriya Vidyalaya (KVs) in the State.
Similar instructions have also been issued to the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development to extend those concessions available to the wards of Kashmiri migrants to the wards of these refugees for the admission to technical and professional institutes outside Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier JPC including ten members from the Rajya Sabha, has strongly recommended Permanent Resident Certificate and voting right for the West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs) and Rs 30 lakh package per family of the WPRs and displaced persons from Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The 31-member Committee, reconstituted on September Ist, 2014 and headed by its chairman P. Bhattacharya, has also recommended that the Government of India should take up the matter of de-freezing of 8 seats for the said refugees with the J&K Government keeping in view the problems being faced by the DPs.
