Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 7: Senior Congress leader and chairman of the Refugees wing of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee, Vinod Sharma has strongly criticized the grant of domicile rights to several categories of outside people while ignoring the hereditary State subjects like PoJK Refugees, who were forced to settle or work outside J and K.
Reacting strongly to the new domicile law, which entitles several categories of originally non residents of J&K as domiciles but deprives the hereditary residents of erstwhile JK State from their rights while giving the same benefit to similarly situated Kashmir migrants, the refugee leader termed it as injustice and discriminatory.
He said that Refugees, /Displaced people of 1947, 65 and 1971 are hereditary State subjects of J&K and can’t be deprived of their status, simply they were forced to settle outside due to compelling circumstances and more particularly when Kashmir migrants and others from outside J and K, have been entitled for the same right.
He asked the Government to immediately rectify the same and extend the rights and benefits to the Refugees on the pattern of Kashmir migrants.
Also expressing concern over the illegal encroachments over the lands allotted to the DPs /Refugees, Sharma said the Government should set up a special task force for identifying such cases and fast track actions into these complaints.
The Refugees’ leader also sought fulfillment of the commitment of providing Rs 30 lakhs per family ex-gratia relief to the DPs and other components of the package of 2014 be also implemented.
Follow our WhatsApp channel