Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 5: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will undertake an aerial survey of flood affected areas in Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow to assess the situation there during his one day visit of the State.
Accompanied by Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Officer (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, the Home Minister will arrive in Srinagar in the morning and first hold a review meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and State Government officials before going for the aerial survey in the affected districts, official sources said.
He will be accompanied by Additional DG of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Secretary (Border Management) Sneh Lata Kumar.
Rajnath will meet the Chief Minister at Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) at Srinagar to review the situation arising out of devastating floods in the State and rescue and relief measures undertaken by the State Government. After the meeting, he will undertake an aerial survey of flood affected areas of Anantnag district.
After the survey, the Home Minister would arrive in Jammu, where he will meet representatives of the State Government and take stock of the situation, following an aerial survey of flood affected areas of Rajouri and Poonch districts.
Rajnath has twice postponed his visit to the State on August 29 and September 5 but the visit was meant for tour of border areas for assessment of the situation in view of shelling and firing by Pakistan.
MoS Jitendra Singh, who hails from the State, said he would hold talks with senior administrative officials and seek ways for early resumption of yatra to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, which was temporarily suspended yesterday in view of heavy rains that lashed parts of the State.
Government has rushed in eight teams of NDRF for rescue and relief operations in the flood-hit parts of J&K, especially in the Kashmir Valley.
Two units of NDRF have already reached Jammu while four units were air-lifted today from Bhatinda to Srinagar.
The Home Minister also spoke to the Chief Minister of J&K on telephone and assured him of all possible help from the Centre.
Meanwhile, the Centre today asked the Jammu and Kashmir Government to identify “suitable land” for the rehabilitation of some three lakh Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990’s due to militancy.
The Narendra Modi Government has committed itself to the return of some 62,000 Kashmiri Pandit families with “full dignity” to their homes in the Valley and has earmarked Rs 500 crore for this in the 2014-15 Union budget.
Rajnath wrote to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for allocation of “suitable” land for creating dwelling units for these families under the Government’s plan for implementation of the rehabilitation scheme for migrants.
Singh suggested that the land may be identified near the native place from where they migrated and also advised that this should be done in such a manner there was adequate security in and around the area.
At present, there are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families who migrated from the Kashmir Valley to either Jammu, Delhi or to other parts of the country after the onset of militancy in the border state.
Singh’s missive came ahead of the State Assembly elections likely to be held in November-December this year for which BJP has declared its intention to seek a majority in the 87-member legislature, a target not easy to achieve.
Political parties in Kashmir and even separatist groups have favoured return of the Pandits but are strongly opposed to creation of separate colonies for them.
The Home Minister, in his letter, said the Union Government is “committed to facilitate the return of the Kashmiri migrants to the Valley and their proper rehabilitation.”
Singh said in order to achieve these goals, the Centre has already earmarked a sum of Rs 500 crore which was announced during the presentation of the new Government’s first budget.
Meanwhile, Congress said it was a problem whose solution must be found out, and the party would definitely welcome any effort in this regard.
Party spokesperson Salman Khurshid, however, felt that for anyone who understands the complexity of the issue, “we would have to be an extreme optimist to keep a deadline”.
He also said while it was necessary to resolve the issue, but no such policy should be made which brings “Kashmiriyat” under a shadow, even as he recalled the situation in which the Kashmiri Pundits have to leave their homes in the Valley
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