Centre to reconsider package for early Bru returnees: CM

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla today said that the Centre would reconsider extending uniform rehabilitation package to the Bru families who had already returned to Mizoram from Tripura relief camps and those to be repatriated soon.

Addressing Congress workers here, the state PCC chief said that he had raised the issue during his meeting with the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Tripura Chief Minister in Delhi on July two.

"I had said that it would not be fair to leave out those who obeyed the government and returned to Mizoram if the Centre gives better package to those who stubbornly refused to be repatriated till date despite government's efforts to bring them back," he said.

The union minister had said that as the agreement was already reached, the proposed repatriation and rehabilitation would be undertaken as decided while the matter of giving the same rehabilitation package would be reconsidered later, he said.

The Centre had convened a meeting of chief ministers of Mizoram and Tripura on July two in which it was agreed that the repatriation of all the 32,876 Brus belonging to 5,407 families lodged in the six relief camps should be completed by September 30.

The Centre would deposit Rs four lakh in the bank account of each family which could be withdrawn after three years and a housing assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh would be disbursed to each family.

Each family would also be provided with monthly assistance of Rs 5,000 for two years and free ration for the same period.

Thousands of Brus have been lodged with the Tripura relief camps since late 1997 in the wake of a communal tension.

Though some Bru families had already returned to Mizoram during a number of repatriation processes and on their own will, many of them continued to refuse to leave Tripura despite many attempts, officials said.