Right time for Kashmiri Pandits to return: Anurag Thakur

Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Thakur on Sunday said that the time has come for Kashmiri Pandits to come back to Jammu and Kashmir and get their rights.

"I think the right time has come for Kashmiri Pandits to be back in Kashmir and to get their rightful rights back. It's not only time but they've lost everything in life. They didn't deserve to go through the treatment they've gone through," Thakur said in a press conference here.

He said that he personally feels that the displaced Kashmiri Pandits now have hope.

"Abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A has brought good things for the region. The delivery mechanism has improved and the achievement in various sectors and for the various Centre sponsored schemes have achieved much better performance," Thakur said.

"The public outreach program has been to reach out to the masses and understand the problems they are facing and tell them about the government policies and how they (people) can take advantage of them," he added.

He said what Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has done "should have been done in the past 70 years".

Anurag Thakur is in Jammu as part of a massive outreach by the Central government, two months after it formally became a Union territory.

As many as 36 Union Ministers will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir between January 18 and 25 to meet people and exchange ideas on the possibilities in the region.