State BJP Spokesperson Prof. Virender Gupta in a statement expressed his concern on the State Government policy in the matter of settlement of the claims of Displaced Person (DPs) of 1947, 1965 and 1971. He said that sanctioning 5.5 lakh for a displaced family, after 70 years of displacement, as one time settlement (as written on the top of the application form) is not appropriate when the committee constituted for determining the amount of compensation to be provided to the PoJK displaced persons had recommended Rs. 25 lakh per displaced family. He said that government should clarify whether the 5.5 lakh presently being granted is first instalment of the compensation or it is one time settlement. He further added that keeping the families who are not presently residing in the state, out of the compensation, is unjust step on the part of the State Government.
Prof. Virender asked the government to take the following steps in order to meet the grievances of the Displaced Persons.
So called one time settlement grant of Rs. 5.5 lakh be considered as first instalment of the relief of 25 lakh per family, as per the recommendations of the committee constituted to ascertain the amount to be dispersed among the DPs family; all the DPs irrespective, whether they are residing in the state or outside the state be covered under the settlement scheme; government should prepare the list of all the DPs and same be published and loaded in the website/internet; those who have so far not got registered as DPs may be provided a fresh opportunity for getting themselves registered as DPs; more staff needs to be recruited or deputed from other departments to the Rehabilitation Department for the speedy disposal of the cases of the claims and for other works associated with the exercise.
