Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that West Pakistan refugees deserve to be treated with dignity and that it is not only uncivilized, but is also inhuman to make a political issue out of a simple provision for employment sought to be made for them through a document certifying proof of identity.
Speaking on the sidelines of a function here today, Dr Singh lashed out at the so-called mainstream opposition parties who have joined hands with the separatists to appease a certain constituency and said, for 70 years, this section of refugees has been languishing for want of livelihood, employment or jobs, while their counterparts who chose to settle in other parts of the country rose to occupy the highest Government offices, with two of them, Inder Kumar Gujral and Manmohan Singh, becoming Prime Ministers of India.
Dr Singh said, the opposition parties which are opposing the issue of identity certificates to the West Pakistan Refugees seem to have no problem with the increasing number of foreign nationals who have, in the last few years, settled down in Jammu & Kashmir, particularly in the outskirts of Jammu. This itself is an indicator of who is playing politics of demographic change with sectarian motives, he said.
From time to time, Dr Jitendra said, the Kashmir-centric groups tend to fish in the troubled waters and unfortunately, some of the Jammu based activists also fall in the trap of this mischief.
The nation owes to this segment of refugees to ensure that they are provided with a dignified means of livelihood, said Dr Jitendra and elaborated that with this in mind precisely, a mechanism has been evolved wherein in the absence of citizenship rights or the State subject certificate, the members of this section of refugees could produce some proof of identity to avail Central Government jobs or recruitment in military or para-military forces.
This is something we should have been done many decades ago, but was not done by the previous Governments and the credit goes to the Modi Government that it has taken the initiative to correct this anomaly”, he added.
Hitting out at some of the activists who are trying to find mileage by raking up the issue of the other section of refugees,that is, from Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) by saying that very little amount has been announced for them, Dr Jitendra said, the question that they should ask themselves is, why the previous Governments were all along only calculating as to how much should be the package for PoJK refugees but never doled out a single penny. This is for the first time, he said, that the Modi Government has earmarked Rs 2000 crore for them out of Rs 80,000 crore J&K package.
Denying the mischievous propaganda that this was the end of it and nothing more will be given to PoJK refugees after Rs.2000 crore, Dr Jitendra said, when the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have said that this is not the end, it is surprising whom are these so-called activists quoting to say that this is the last and final amount paid and thus deliberately provoking the innocent PoJK refugees.
Meanwhile, a youth delegation representing “Nav Kathua Nirman Samiti” called on Dr Jitendra Singh today and thanked him for having moved the proposal for construction of new Railway Station in Kathua and also for having allocated amount from his MPLAD fund for construction of sheds and benches at the existing Railway Station at Kathua.
The delegation led by young technocrats Rahul Dev, Bunty Bhola and Sanjeev Kumar also presented to the Minister a Rail line plan and DPR prepared by them for construction of a new Railway line between Sujanpur and Budhi section of Pathankot-Jammu Railway line, which they requested to be pursued with the Ministry of Railways.
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