No land belonging to Kashmiri migrants has been acquired in the valley in violation of prescribed legal procedures, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said on Tuesday, asserting that the ruling National Conference has consistently worked to ensure justice for the displaced community.
Replying to a starred question in the House raised by CPI(M) legislator M Y Tarigami, he said, “As per the report submitted by the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, no land is acquired without adhering to the prescribed land acquisition procedures, including prior notification and verification, and all such acquisitions are assessed in accordance with the applicable land acquisition laws.” Choudhary said this on behalf of the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is in-charge of the Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction (DMRRR) department.
On notifying a separate order in June 2022 for nearly 6,000 employees under the Prime Minister’s (PM) Special Package for the Pandit community who are serving in the valley, the deputy chief minister said the order does not vitiate their service interests; rather, it strengthens and protects them.
“Recruitment and initial appointment of Kashmiri Migrants under the Prime Minister’s Package are governed by the J&K Migrants (Special Drive) Recruitment Rules, 2009 and creation of 6000 supernumerary posts sanctioned in 2009 and 2017. These orders primarily address entry into service and availability of posts,” he said.
However, he said with large-scale appointments made under the package, a need was felt to put in place a clear service- management framework.
Accordingly, the government issued an order in June 2022 to regulate seniority, cadre management, postings and career progression of PM package employees in a structured manner.
“These provisions are protective and enabling in nature and ensure that PM Package employees are not disadvantaged vis-à-vis regular employees,” he said, adding that there was no inconsistency between previous orders and the 2022 directive.
Proposals for further service improvements and possible absorption into the regular cadre were under examination by the General Administration and Finance Departments, he informed the House.
Regarding delays in provisional registrations of Kashmiri migrants, the deputy chief minister said on July 12, 2023, the administration decided that, given the improvement in the law and order situation in the valley, fresh registrations on security grounds are not justified, and that no further extensions to provisional registration cases shall be allowed.
However, a screening committee, reconstituted in May 2024 to screen and approve registration of those families, has held a series of meetings and has given its recommendations in all the cases.
“Out of 1,263 cases, CID/DM reports are awaited in only 75 cases and these cases shall be also decided immediately after receiving the CID/DM reports,” the deputy CM said, ruling out any inordinate delay in the matter.
He said that as the process involves security and threat-perception assessment, each case requires detailed verification by the CID and district administration. The time taken is procedural.
In his supplementary, Tarigami said the 2022 order was “highly discriminatory,” though he welcomed government initiative for its revision.
He urged the government to review relief for pensioners, noting that the structure fixed in 2018 had not kept pace with inflation.
Raising the issue of political migrants, he said migration was forced by circumstances and is not voluntary, hence the government should review all cases on humanitarian grounds.
“How can it take two years to determine genuine cases?” he asked, asserting that migrants were not “beggars” but people compelled to leave their homes.
Responding to this, the deputy chief minister rejected allegations of discrimination and said the government remained committed to justice for all migrants.
He described migration as “unfortunate” and said that while many cases are genuine, there are some cases which have proved otherwise during verification.