New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday set the ball rolling for the smooth and safe return of Kashmiri pandits to the Valley. This was one of the major commitments of the BJP in its election manifesto. Mr Singh also asked MHA officials to take steps to strengthen measures to curb infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir. The MHA’s Kashmir division also made a detailed presentation before the home minister on the broad contours of Article 370.
A broad discussion on Article 370 will now begin. After the meeting, the home minister tweeted: “Take Kashmiri migrants into confidence and work on steps to be taken for their safe return to the Valley.” In the election manifesto, the party had stated that the “return of Kashmiri pandits to the land of their ancestors with full dignity, security and assured livelihood will figure high on BJP's agenda”.
High on the MHA agenda is a revised and enhanced Prime Minister's package for rehabilitation and resettlement of Kashmiri pandits. The reworked package offers '20 lakh per family to 60,000 Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from their native places since 1989. This financial assistance will be towards repair and reconstruction for fully or partially-damaged houses. This fresh package was sent last month as a recommendation by the Omar Abdullah government.
