Govt proposes 11-member KP panel to monitor fund utilisation

The government has proposed to constitute a 10-member committee of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) to monitor the implementation of packages for rehabilitation of the displaced community.

The panel, according to the proposal of the Union Home Ministry, includes representatives of migrant camps from Muthi and Pukhroo.

The proposal has been sent to governments of J&K and Delhi, asking them to consult various associations of Kashmiri migrants and offer inputs in the matter at the earliest.

The Narendra Modi government, after assuming office in 2014, had announced over Rs 500-crore package for the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants.

This year’s Budget saw that more than half of the Rs 580-crore fund allocated for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants remained unutilised during 2015-16 fiscal. According to the Union Budget, Rs 580 crore was allocated during 2015-16 but as per revised estimates, only Rs 280 crore was provided, leaving Rs 300 crore unutilised.

There are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families in the country who left the Valley due to the start of militancy/terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir in the early 1990s.