Ceasefire violations: Study group to examine problems of people in border areas
The move comes after home minister Rajnath Singh visited Jammu and Kashmir and met the people there.
india Updated: Oct 06, 2017 19:18 IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Days after home minister Rajnath Singh visited Jammu and Kashmir, the government has set up a study group to examine problems faced by people living near the international border and Line of Control (LoC) due to repeated and rising instances of ceasefire violations.
Special secretary (internal security) Rina Mitra, principal secretary (home) J&K government Raj Kumar Goyal, divisional commissioner Kashmir Bashir Ahmed Khan, divisional commissioner Jammu Dr Mandeep K Bhandari and joint secretary J&K government Gyanesh Kumar will be members of the group.
Data compiled by the home ministry (MHA) shows that 2017 witnessed a major spike in the number of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops.
Against a total of 449 incidents last year, there have been 600 ceasefire violations till September this year, killing eight civilians and 16 soldiers whereas last year 13 security personnel were killed.
During a four-day tour to the state, Rajnath Singh had met people of border areas and assured them that their concerns will be taken into account, a senior home ministry official said.
He also met security forces and their recommendations will also be taken into account by the study group, the official said.
According to MHA spokesperson Ashok Prasad, the group will prepare a detailed report of the issues faced by the public in these areas and submit recommendations for remedial actions to be taken by the government.
The group will meet people, district administration and security forces in these areas.
According to MHA officials some of the key areas that the study group will focus on are issues like relocation of civilian population during ceasefire violations, construction of bullet-proof bunkers to house civilians, self-protection trainings for local population and better watch and monitoring by security forces.
Among other issues that the study group will collect feedback is of compensation for land of civilians that has been used by the military for border fencing and other security purposes.
