‘Centre has no plan to set up Pandit colony in Kashmir’

Brighter Kashmir: New Delhi: Saturday, November 25, 2017.

The Centre in a reply to an RTI said it has no plans of constructing Composite Township for the displaced Kashmiri Pandit in Kashmir.

The reply also advised the query filer to instead seek the information directly from the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Social activist Rohit Choudhury filed the RTI regarding the status of rehabilitating the Kashmiri Pandits who left the Valley following surge in terrorism in the 1990s.

To his query, Director in Ministry of Home Affairs, Ram Krishna Swarnakar denied having any plans to set up composite townships in Kashmir for the displaced.

“This ministry doesn’t have any plan to set up composite townships for displaced Kashmiri Pandit migrants,” the RTI reply said. Responding to the question what measures have been taken, Swarnakar said, “It is advised to you to seek the information directly from the state government of J&K”.

The RTI reply came to light on a day the Centre’s special representative Dineshwar Sharma is scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir for his second trip to the state. As per reports, Sharma is expected to visit migrant camps in Jammu and in the Valley, and listen to the problems of the migrants.

The Pandits, in a bid to guarantee rehabilitation, demanded setting up of a Welfare Board for the community.

Sharma met Kashmiri Pandit representatives during his first visit to Kashmir earlier this month and discussed roadmap for their return and rehabilitation.