PM's Rs 1600cr sops to lure Pandits back to J&K

AKHNOOR: In an attempt to ensure the return of Kashmir Pandits to their homeland, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday announced a slew of measures encompassing financial grants for housing, government jobs and waiver of interest on loans for them. The total expenditure on all these proposals would be Rs 1,600 crore, he said.
Addressing a public rally at Akhnoor, 28-km from Jammu, after inaugurating Chenab bridge on Friday, he said over 50,000 Kashmir Pandit families migrated to other states after "unfortunate events" of the last two decades.
"We have a collective responsibility to facilitate the return of these families, who are integral party of the social fabric of the area."
He said many of these families had to engage in distress sale of their houses and properties in the Valley till a legislation put a stop to it in 1997. He said the state government is being requested to identify land for housing societies of such families. He said the Union government has decided to grant those families, who are willing to return, a lump sum grant of Rs 7.5 lakh to build or buy homes.
The PM also said that about 15,000 families which had settled in Jammu, Delhi and in other parts of India, who were willing to go back, will be given two more years of monthly relief package to enable a smooth transition.
Urgency in Indo-Pak talks Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed the hope that peace talks with Pakistan would gather momentum, now with an elected government in place in Islamabad.
"I've been heartened by the positive statements made by the new leaders," he said while making one of his own: The need to liberalise travel to India for businessmen, tourists and scholars from Pakistan.