Land to be acquired soon for 'composite townships' for Kashmiri pandits: Mufti to Centre

Jammu and Kashmir government will acquire and provide land at the earliest for composite townships for displaced Kashmiri Pandit migrants in the Valley, Chief Minister Mufti Mohamamd Sayeed today told Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Sayeed, who is here for holding meetings with Central leaders, was told by the Home Minister that he should provide land for the Kashmiri pandits, who had to leave the Valley after in the wake of militancy more than two decades back.

Singh had written a letter to the previous Omar Abdullah government, which was followed by another communication to state Governor N N Vohra asking for identification of land for such migrants.

At present, there are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families in the country, who have moved from the Valley to Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country after the state was rocked by militancy in 1989.

The BJP-PDP alliance in the state has mentioned rehabilitation of Kashmiri pandits in their common minimum programme.

The Home Minister asked Sayeed to provide land in the state for composite townships for Kashmiri Pandits and the Chief Minister "assured the Union Home Minister that the State Government will acquire and provide land at the earliest," an official statement said.

During the budget for 2015-16, Rs 580 crore has been earmarked by the Centre for rehabilitation of migrants.