Jammu: Members of the erstwhile West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs) community on Wednesday demanded early grant of land ownership rights and release of one-time settlement benefits.
The members claimed that hundreds of eligible families have yet to receive the relief promised by the government.
The demands were raised during a gathering here under the leadership of the West Pakistani Refugees chairperson Labha Ram Gandhi.
“Around 902 registered refugee families in Kathua have not been granted ownership rights over the land allotted to them. We urge the administration to expedite the process of issuing legal ownership documents for allotted land and custodian properties,” he told reporters here.
Gandhi also expressed concern over the possible demographic implications for Jammu and Kashmir in view of recent developments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), urging the government to protect the interests of refugee families.
In August 2024, the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Council, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, approved a proposal to confer ownership rights on government land to families displaced from West Pakistan.
The West Pakistani Refugees are families who migrated from areas that became part of Pakistan after the 1947 Partition and settled mainly in Jammu, Kathua, and Rajouri districts.
According to community representatives, around 5,764 refugee families migrated to the region following the 1947 conflict.
