Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 24: Members of PoJK Visthapit Sewa Samiti met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and submitted a memorandum on Behalf of the Displaced Persons of 1947 settled within and outside Jammu and Kashmir.
The Samiti has demanded a financial package for PoJK DPs settled outside J&K and defreezing the 24 Assembly seats reserved for Displaced Persons of PoJK.
In the memorandum, the Samiti explained that it was for the first time that after amendment of Article 370 and abrogation of Article 35A, PoJK DPs settled outside J&K are considered as part and parcel of J&K and have become eligible for registration and grant of domicile certificates in J&K.
The Samiti demanded that after obtaining Domicile Certificates, those Displaced Persons settled outside should be given all rights and benefits in J&K as given to residents of J&K including voting rights. “For rehabilitating them in J&K and reconnecting them again with their ancestral roots, each present family should be given residential plots in J&K,” reads the memorandum.
“Under PM Package 2015, financial assistance of Rs 5. 5 lac per family is being given only to PoJK Displaced Persons within J&K. Unfortunately, those DPs settled outside are not given this financial assistance. Therefore, it is requested to announce a financial package for PoJK DPs settled outside J&K,” explained the memorandum.
Stating that PoJK DPs are struggling hard for their long pending issues and demands but their issues remained unresolved because of lack of political representation in J&K Legislative Assembly, the Samiti has demanded defreezing of the 24 seats reserved for PoJK.
“Sir, as you know that when J&K Constituent Assembly was constituted in 1951, 25 seats were reserved for Displaced Persons of PoJK. Later one seat was unreserved by amendment in the Constitution of J&K (which didn’t exist now). “Presently, there are 24 seats reserved for Displaced Persons of PoJK. To address the issues of such huge population of PoJK DPs settled within and outside J&K there is utmost need to defreeze those seats for PoJK Displaced Persons,” said the memorandum to Amit Shah, submitted by the Samiti members Arun Choudhary, Dr Deepak Kapoor, S Surinder Singh Khalsa, Subhash Kumar, Devender Sharma and Pt Ashok Khajuria.
Follow our WhatsApp channel