Kashmiri migrants rehabilitation: Rajnath writes to Omar seeking land

Rajnath suggested that land may be identified near the native places they migrated from

Taking forward his government's initiative to rehabilitate Kashmiri migrants, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today wrote to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah seeking allocation of 'suitable' land for creating dwelling units for these families.

In his letter to Omar, Singh suggested that "land may be identified near the native places they (Kashmiri migrants) migrated from."

The Home Minister also advised that such areas should be selected keeping in view the availability of adequate security in close proximity of the place.

At present there are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families in the country who migrated from the Kashmir Valley to either Jammu, Delhi or to other parts of the country due to militancy in the state in early 1990s.

The Home Minister, in his letter, said Union government is "committed to facilitate the return of the Kashmiri migrants to the Kashmir Valley and their proper rehabilitation."

Singh said in order to achieve these goals, the Centre has already earmarked a sum of Rs 500 crore which was announced during the presentation of the new government's first budget.

The Narendra Modi government has flagged rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants, as its priority and, ahead of the budget, a series of meetings were held between officials of the state and the Centre.

At present, a total of 60,452 families of Kashmiri migrants are registered in the country, of which 38,119 are in Jammu, 19,338 in Delhi and 1,995 in other states.