Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri G Kishan Reddy, in a written reply in Lok Sabha to a question regarding initiatives for the rehabilitation of displaced people and refugees from Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), said that a total of 31,619 displaced families from Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) got registered after Indo-Pak war of 1947. Out of these, 26,319 families got registered and settled in the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir and 5,300 families initially registered with PRO, J&K subsequently moved to other parts of the country. Further, during the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, 10,065 families registered as displaced families from Chhamb Niabat area. Both the Government of India and the Government of Jammu & Kashmir have been providing several relief/rehabilitation packages from time to time to the displaced families of POJK & Chhamb.

For the displaced families of 1947 which stayed in J&K, the Government of Jammu & Kashmir had allotted agricultural land ranging from 4-8 acres per family. Those who settled in urban areas were provided plots/quarters besides cash ex-gratia of Rs. 3500/- per family. For those families which did not get land allotted as per prescribed scales, cash compensation was sanctioned by Government of India in lieu of land deficiency. Others were allotted land /plot/quarter as per fixed scale for their rehabilitation. The displaced families which did not settle in Jammu & Kashmir were paid an ex-gratia of Rs. 3500/- per family at the time of their registration.

For the displaced families of 1965 and 1971, agricultural land at the rate of 4 acres (irrigated) or 6 acres (un-irrigated) was allotted. A cash compensation of Rs. 3,000/- per family for displaced families of 1965 and Rs. 7,500/- per family for 1971 was also paid. The families of 1965 which did not settle in camps set up by the Government, were also paid Rs. 25,000/- per family as ex-gratia later on. The entire process of rehabilitation of displaced families was overseen by Chhamb Displaced Persons Rehabilitation Authority (CDPRA).

In order to mitigate the hardships of the displaced families, the Government of India under the Prime Minister’s Development Package-2015, approved a rehabilitation package with an outlay of Rs. 2000 crores on 22nd December, 2016. Under the package, financial assistance of Rs. 5.5 lakhs per family (Central share is Rs.5,49,692/-and the State share is Rs. 308/-) is provided to the 36,384 displaced families of POJK and Chhamb, which settled in Jammu & Kashmir.

As per the scheme, eligible beneficiaries are identified by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir and their proposals duly authenticated are forwarded to the Government of India for release of financial assistance. Thereafter, the Central share as well as the State share of financial assistance is disbursed every month on regular basis to the beneficiaries directly in their Aadhaar-linked Bank Accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode. Since inception of the scheme, a total amount of Rs. 1277.31 crores has been disbursed to 29,490 beneficiaries up to 31st January, 2020.

In September, 2019, the Government of India has further approved the inclusion of those displaced families of PoJK, out of 5,300 families, who initially moved out of Jammu and Kashmir, but later on returned and settled in Jammu and Kashmir. Such families will also be eligible for the financial assistance of Rs. 5.5 lakh per family.

The rehabilitation packages apply to all registered families which got displaced from POJK & Chhamb, irrespective of their religion. Disbursements are made to all eligible beneficiaries authenticated by Government of Jammu and Kashmir, until the close the scheme, which is up to 31st March, 2021.

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