NEW DELHI: As part of the efforts to restore and normally the Jammu and Kashmir a plan for return of the Kashmiri Pandit migrants to their homes in Kashmir valley has been finalized and would be put into operation by next month. Disclosing the official sources said to help this process, it has been decided to establish a council for rehabilitation of victims of militancy.
The Governor would be the head of the governing board of the council and the Chief Secretary its executive head, the council has already been registered with budget of Rs 20 crore. ‘The plan bringing hack the Kashmiri Pandits envisages visits to the migrant camps in Jammu and other parts of the country by prominent personalities from the valley for a confidence-building dialogue. Sources said, there-after, representatives of migrants will visit certain predetermined areas in the valley to assess the situation on the ground there and interact with the local population, this would be followed by return to their live homes in selected areas in valley by some migrant families. In due course of time, more and more migrant families would be encouraged to come back and join their brethren in the valley. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar said that it was a people to people initiative and the Stale government would play the role of a catalyst without being directly.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 20, 1996
