Rajnath Singh asks Jammu & Kashmir government to identify land for rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to identify suitable land for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants. The Home Minister has in a letter addressed to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah regarding implementation of the rehabilitation scheme suggested that land may be identified near the native places they migrated from. He also advised that such areas should be selected keeping in view the availability of adequate security in close proximity of the place.

At present there are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families in the country, who migrated from the Kashmir Valley to Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country due to onset of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in early 1990s. Singh further mentioned that the Union Government is committed to facilitate the return of the Kashmiri migrants to the Kashmir Valley and their proper rehabilitation. A sum of Rs 500 crore has been earmarked in the Union Budget 2014-15 for this purpose, he added.