 "J&K govt grants land proprietary rights to West Pakistan refugees")
In a landmark decision, the Jammu and Kashmir government granted proprietary rights to West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) for land in the Union Territory that their ancestors were allocated by the former state administration more than 70 years ago.
The Administrative Council, led by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and attended by advisor Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, chief secretary Atal Dulloo, and principal secretary to the LG, Mandeep K Bhandari, approved this decision during a meeting in Srinagar.
The move addresses over seven decades of perceived “discrimination” against the “displaced persons from West Pakistan”. Similar to the rights granted to individuals displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), this new policy will provide proprietary rights to thousands of WPR families residing in the Jammu region, according to officials.
Following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, the Centre granted domicile status to families previously deemed ‘non-state subjects’ who were ineligible to vote in the Legislative Assembly elections of the former Jammu and Kashmir state.
Proprietary rights granted to displaced people
An official spokesperson said, “The decision fulfils demands of all connected families, which have been requesting for ownership rights for the past so many decades. Vesting of proprietary rights to West Pakistan Displaced Persons on state land would bring them at par with the Displaced Persons of POJK (Pakistan occupied J&K) and their long pending demand will also be fulfilled.”
The Administrative Council also authorised the granting of proprietary rights to the Displaced Persons of 1965 concerning state-owned land. The spokesperson said the government has consistently upheld its commitment to provide similar benefits to the 1965 Displaced Persons as those given to the Displaced Persons of 1947 and 1971. The Revenue Department will implement safeguards within the operational guidelines to prevent misuse, including unauthorised encroachments on state land.
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Official records indicate that 5,764 families migrated to Jammu and Kashmir from West Pakistan during the 1947 partition. Each family was allocated four acres of agricultural land and resettled in the districts of Jammu, Samba, and Kathua. Currently, the number of these families has increased to 22,170.
Land allocated to West Pakistani refugees
Labha Ram Gandhi, a leading figure among the West Pakistani Refugees, has noted that only 20 per cent of these families received agricultural land. He said a total of 46,666 kanals (5,833.25 acres) of land, allocated at a rate of four acres per family, was provided upon their arrival from West Pakistan.
Gandhi, who supported the decision, noted that only half of the land in question was state-owned, while the other half was ‘evacuee land’ — property previously owned by local Muslim residents of Jammu and Kashmir who had migrated to Pakistan following the 1947 Partition. He added that the administration would clarify its position on the evacuee land, which has been occupied by WPRs (WPR families).
Previously, on June 13, 2018, the Centre introduced a scheme offering one-time financial aid of Rs 5.5 lakh per family to 5,764 WPR families. With a total budget of Rs 317.02 crore, the government set March 31, 2021, as the deadline for disbursing the funds.
However, due to the delay in receiving authenticated proposals from the then Jammu and Kashmir government, no financial assistance was provided during 2018-19 and 2019-20. Consequently, the Centre extended the scheme until March 31, 2024.
Gandhi reported that out of the 5,764 WPR families registered in 1947, only 1,890 have received Rs 5 lakh each in financial assistance to date. He recently met with Union Minister Jitendra Singh in the Prime Minister’s Office, urging him to accelerate the distribution of aid to the remaining families.
[With agency inputs]