DCs told to form career counselling desks for those orphaned due to militancy

Divisional Commissioner Baseer Ahmad Khan on Thursday directed all deputy commissioners to constitute career counselling desks for those orphaned due to militancy.

The desks will provide financial assistance to them in pursuing education as per their choice.

The divisional commissioner passed these directions while chairing a meeting to review cases of militancy-affected orphans receiving financial assistance from the National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH) through the district administrations in the Valley, an official spokesman said.

It was informed during the meeting that the NFCH provided Rs 1,250 monthly assistance up to Class 12, Rs 1500 up to graduation and postgraduation and Rs 1,750 for professional courses up to 25 years of age, the spokesman said.

It was informed that Rs 1.89 crore was disbursed among 1,211 orphans in 2017-18.

In 2018-19, Rs 1.61 crore was disbursed among 938 such students.

For a quick transfer of funds, the DCs were asked to open bank accounts with Aadhaar and conduct district-level screening committee meetings regularly to speed up the identification of new cases.

Khan directed the district social welfare officers to maintain close coordination with their deputy commissioners for verification, reconciliation and submission of pending cases during the present financial year.

He also asked them to meet the orphans once in a month for redress of their grievances.

The DCs were directed to identify the orphans who have attained 25 years of age and needed financial assistance to pursue further studies and were asked to submit a proposal in this regard to the NFCH, the spokesman said.

The DCs were also asked to submit utilisation certificates of funds to the NFCH office within a week, the spokesman said.