Govt doing its best for Kashmiri Pandits: Patil

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Thursday said that there had been improvement in the security environment in Jammu and Kashmir and that there had been no large scale exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the state since 1991.

Replying to a call attention notice tabled by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Patil said: "The security situation in the state has improved on account of sincere efforts of the security forces and efforts of the government and above all, the people's yarning for peace and normalcy."

Malhotra wanted to know what steps the government had taken to mitigate the problems of the Kashmiri Pandits.

Patil admitted that some Pandits were still suffering, but assured the Lok Sabha that attempts were being made to help them live more a secured and peaceful life. 

"After Nadimarg massacre in March 2003, some families (of Kashmiri Pandits) migrated from Kashmir to Jammu province. There has been no large scale migration after 1990-91," he said.

The home minister informed that financial assistance being provided to Kashmiri migrants in Jammu and Delhi was being raised to Rs 4000 per family from Rs 3000 and 3200 respectively with effect from July 1, 2006.

Patil said government has approved Rs 20 crore for the construction of 200 flats at Sheikhpora in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir to help the migrants who want to return to the valley. He said 5242 two-room tenements have been planned for all families residing in the camps in the Jammu region of which construction of 1024 has already started in the first phase.

He said that a grant of Rs 10 crores has been provided to the state government for the reconstruction and renovation of houses and shrines at Kheer Bhavani and Mattan.

The state government, he said, has completed construction of 18 three-room flats at Mattan for temporary stay of Kashmiri migrants till they are able to return to their houses in the valley. At Kheer Bhavani, 100 one-room tenements have been completed.

Patil also said that police and Central Reserve Police Force pickets have been established in villages and clusters inhabited by different communities in Kashmir valley, which are being supplied with adequate weaponry and communication facilities. 

However, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was dissatisfied with the Centre's response and staged a noisy walkout from the Lok Sabha. Leading the walkout, Malhotra said what the Pandits have undergone was nothing short of a 'genocide, ethnic cleansing.'