Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said his administration will ensure that West Pakistan refugees living in the Union Territory will get land ownership rights.
He said Articles 370 and 35-A had “denied political rights and other benefits to these refugees and hindered their prosperity and upward mobility”.
“There is a demand that you (West Pakistan refugees) don’t have ownership of the land. Ownership rights of land to West Pakistani refugees will be ensured by the UT administration on the directions of the Central government,” Sinha said.
He was speaking after inaugurating a ‘Special Governance Camp’ for the West Pakistani Refugees at Chakroi in R S Pura sector here, an official press release informed.
The special camp will resolve grievances, carry out verification of pending cases and create awareness about various welfare and self-employment schemes besides a placement drive for eligible candidates from the displaced families, Sinha said.
“Articles 370 and 35-A had denied political rights and other benefits to West Pakistani Refugee families and prevented their scope of progression and upward mobility. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-ji provided them with the rights enjoyed by other citizens of the country and they are no longer treated as refugees,” Sinha said.
“The government is working with dedication and commitment to realise the dreams of the community. It is a fresh dawn, which offers the people limitless possibilities and a new hope to the youth. We will ensure that they become architects of J&K’s strong and prosperous tomorrow,” the LG said.
He also reiterated the administration’s commitment to work for the larger interest of the displaced families.
“The governance camp will act as an institutional structure to effectively resolve all the pending cases within a time frame and mitigate the problems of farmers. Our thrust will be on measures for economic and social development, social justice and equality,” Sinha said.
He also assured every possible support and assistance from the administration to the youth of the refugee families in their entrepreneurial and business ventures.
He also said all the opportunities for skill development and sports will be provided to the youth. “Youth must come forward and avail the benefits of all schemes and programmes of Mission Youth,” he added.
The LG also distributed sanction letters to the beneficiaries of different government schemes. He also interacted with the representative of West Pakistan Refugees and assured appropriate redressal of their issues and demands.
Article 370, which gave special status to J&K, barred West Pakistan refugees from applying for government jobs or avail scholarships and admissions in colleges as well other welfare schemes. They also couldn’t vote or own land. The special status to J&K was ended by the Centre on August 5, 2019.
Earlier, the UT administration had organized special governance camps for Kashmiri migrants and displaced persons of PoJK to ensure saturation of social security schemes, self-employment and skilling, the press release recalled.
It said Bharat Bhushan, chairperson DDC Jammu; Ramesh Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Jammu; Labba Ram Gandhi, president WPR Association; members of West Pakistani Refugee families, senior officers of UT administration were present on the occasion.
LG releases books authored by Padma Shri Prof Vishwamurti Shastri
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha released two books — “Sarvajan Sukhaya” and “Sarvajan Hitaya” authored by Padma Shri Prof Vishwamurti Shastri, at Raj Bhavan today.
The books provide useful information and ways for performing “pooja based on jyotish vigyan” and on the invaluable ancient knowledge on a variety of subjects for a holistic living and prosperous life, an official press release informed.
Speaking on the occasion, the LG said, Sanskrit is recognized as one of the oldest living languages of the world and offers tremendous treasure in literature, mathematics, medicine and science.
The wisdom of Sanskrit has the immense potential to enrich the knowledge system and promotion of Sanskrit language with the usage of Sanskrit words in day-to-day conversations is the need of the hour,” the LG said.
Dr Mandeep K. Bhandari, Principal Secretary to LG; Anshul Garg, CEO SMVDSB besides other people were present on the occasion.
