MHA to bear entire cost of project
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 1: The Central Government has cleared the proposal for construction of 25 to 30 `Seema Bhavans’ in five border districts of Jammu region to accommodate the border dwellers in case of Pakistan shelling and firing. The Centre will bear entire cost on the construction of the `Bhavans’ and the State Government will have to facilitate the construction.
The ‘Seema Bhavans’, which will have the capacity of accommodating 500 to 1000 persons at a time depending upon location of the border areas, will be equipped with large Halls, Class Rooms, Medical Room, Warder Room, Dining Hall, 20 toilets and 20 boardrooms, official sources told the Excelsior.
“Initially five to six `Seema Bhavans’ will be constructed in every district and the number could go up depending upon the requirement,” sources said, adding that the `Bhavans’ have been approved for Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, which fall along the International Border and Rajouri and Poonch districts on the Line of Control.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which had mooted construction of `Seema Bhavans’ for the border districts and then approved them, will be bearing expenditure incurred on them and the State Government will only have to facilitate the constructions. Entire cost of the project will be reimbursed by the Home Ministry, sources said.
The Central Government has asked the State Government to start construction of ‘Seema Bhavans’ initially five to six in one border district. The number of the ‘Bhavans’ can be raised subsequently depending upon the requirement in the districts.
The Deputy Commissioners of all five districts, according to sources, will identify land for construction of the Bhavans and start construction process after completion of formalities. The Bhavans will be located in areas, which will be completely safe from Pakistan shelling and firing. At the same time, the Deputy Commissioners have been asked to construct the Bhavans close to the border areas population so that the dwellers could easily shift there in case of shelling and firing from Pakistan side.
Sources maintained that the ‘Seema Bhavans’ would be in addition to community and individual bunkers, which have already been approved for the border people of five districts by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at the cost of Rs 413.5 crore.
These bunkers will also be constructed in Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts. Work on construction of 1,431 community and more than 13,000 individual bunkers will be completed at the cost of Rs 413.5 crore.
The bunkers, according to sources, will be located close to the houses of the border people while the ‘Seema Bhavans’ will come up completely in the safer areas.
As studies of children suffer immensely during the days of shelling and firing by Pakistan in view of closure of educational institutions within five kilometers radius of the International Border and Line of Control, the Government has decided that the `Seema Bhavans’ will have Class Rooms within the Bhavan complex to facilitate classes of the schools of the border areas, from where the people camp in the Bhavan. This will ensure that studies of the students don’t suffer.
Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh, when approached for comments, said the construction of individual and community bunkers followed by `Seema Bhavans’ will fulfill long pending demand of the people of border areas and will prove very useful for the people in the event of Pakistan shelling and firing.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the process for construction of individual and community bunkers and `Seema Bhavans’ is being set into motion and the administration should ensure their early completion for the benefits of border dwellers.
Construction of `Seema Bhavans’ was announced by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Apart from the Bhavans, Singh had also announced increase in compensation for the death of border civilians in Pakistan firing from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh and that of cattle from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000. He had done away with certain conditions on the compensation including payment of relief for maximum of three cattle and ordered that relief now will be paid for all the dead cattle. He had also approved five bullet-proof ambulances for the border people.
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