Apni Party takes up issues of Jats, OBCs, DPs with HM: Manjit

Apni Party provincial president, Manjit Singh addressing press conference in Jammu on Wednesday.
Apni Party provincial president, Manjit Singh addressing press conference in Jammu on Wednesday.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 5: Provincial president of Apni Party, Manjit Singh today said that Apni Party delegations strongly took up the issues of Jat community, OBCs and DPs of 1965 and 71 with the visiting Home Minister at Srinagar.
Talking to media-persons here today, Provincial president and former minister Manjit Singh said that his party demanded OBC status for Jat community and implementation of Mandal Commission Report in favour of OBC people in Jammu and Kashmir during a meeting of Apni Party delegation with Home Minister.
Singh said that the meeting with the Home Minister was held in a cordial atmosphere and various issues were discussed with regard to OBC status for the Jat community which has a huge population in the border villages of Jammu plains and other areas. He said Jat community has been demanding social, economic, political and educational upliftment so that their livelihood can be upgraded.
AP leader further said that he has also demanded implementation of the Mandal Commission Report in favour of the OBC people in J&K so that they can get the long pending constitutional right of 27 % reservation in the Union Territory.
Singh said he projected that the Displaced Persons of Chhamb have also suffered equally. These people were displaced in 1965 and 1971 from Chhamb and then settled by the then Govts along the border belt on the allotted land. Unfortunately, in all these years, he said these DPs were not granted property rights on the allotted land by the respective Govts in the past.
“These people were left to suffer and whenever their land is acquired by BSF, Army, NHAI or other Govt agencies, the DPs are not given compensation although the land is allotted to them,” he said.
Shah directed the Chief Secretary to give property rights on the land allotted to the DPs. He also asked Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to verify the DP’s compensation cases for left out families, Manjit claimed.
He said party also demanded release of Rs 25 lakh financial package announced in favour of the refugees and complained that Rs 5.5 lakh was not received by all the refugee families. The party also demanded regularization of the daily wagers working in different Govt departments of J&K.