31,619 displaced families from PoJK registered after 1947: Govt

A total of 31,619 displaced families from Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) got registered after 1947 and of them, 26,319 families settled in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said in Lok Sabha that 5,300 more families initially registered with Jammu and Kashmir but subsequently moved to other parts of the country.

Further, during the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, a total of 10,065 families registered as displaced families from Chhamb Niabat from across the border, he said in a written reply to a question.

Reddy said both the central government and the government of Jammu and Kashmir have been providing several relief and rehabilitation packages from time to time to the displaced families of POJK and Chhamb.

For the displaced families of 1947 which stayed in Jammu and Kashmir, the government of Jammu and Kashmir had allotted agricultural land ranging from 4-8 acres per family.

Those who settled in urban areas were provided plots/quarters besides cash ex-gratia of Rs 3,500 per family. For those families which did not get land allotted according to prescribed scales, cash compensation was sanctioned by government of India against land deficiency.

The minister said others were allotted land/plot/quarter as per fixed scale for their rehabilitation. The displaced families which did not settle in Jammu and Kashmir were paid an ex-gratia of Rs 3,500 per family at the time of their registration.

For the displaced families of 1965 and 1971, agricultural land at the rate of 4 acres (irrigated) or 6 acres (un-irrigated) was allotted.

A cash compensation of Rs 3,000 per family for displaced families of 1965 and Rs 7,500 per family for 1971 was also paid.

The families of 1965 which did not settle in camps set up by the government, were also paid Rs 25,000 per family as ex-gratia later on. The entire process of rehabilitation of displaced families was overseen by Chhamb Displaced Persons Rehabilitation Authority (CDPRA), Reddy said.