More than two years after a sum of Rs 2,000 crores was approved under the Prime Ministers Development Package (PMDP) for 36,384 displaced families from Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and Chhamb a little over 20 percent of the sanctioned amount has been distributed among 8851 beneficiaries till date.
According to the available records an amount of 436.11 crores (approx) has been distributed among 8851 beneficiaries so far while over 1500 crores remain unspent till date.
Till January 31, 2018 a total number of 2699 cases were still pending with the Ministry of Home Affairs while 847 new cases have been received by the Ministry of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking in to account total number of pending and fresh cases claims of over 23,000 refugees still remain unsettled even after a long wait of over 40 years.
The majority of these families are struggling to complete the formalities and in the absence of the same their cases have not been accorded formal sanction by the State Government agencies.
Prime Ministers Development Package of 80,000 crores was sanctioned for the State of Jammu and Kashmir in November 2015 and under the package a sum of Rs 2000 crores was approved for 36384 POJK displaced families.
When the State Govt failed to verify the cases the Union Government decided to transfer the sanctioned money via direct bank transfer in to the accounts of genuine beneficiaries in April 2017. In nine months not much headway has been achieved due to comprehensive process of verification of claim documents.
On Friday the sensitive issue of delay being caused in distribution of funds to POJK families was taken up in the State assembly by the BJP MLA Sat Paul Sharma in the form of calling attention notice. BJP MLA urged the State Government to expedite the pending paper work and frame out a mechanism to relax certain stringent rules.
In response State Cabinet Minister Javaid Mustafa Mir, Minister In-charge Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction department informed the State assembly the department is processing the cases on top priority.
He said 847 cases would be uploaded and approved within a weeks time while 2699 cases are pending with MHA as on January 31, 2018.
The State Cabinet Minister informed the State assembly that he would look in to the demand to relax certain rules to further expedite the processing of genuine cases. He said the department has shared hard and soft copies of list of beneficiaries approved till 31 December 2017 with the office of Divisional Commissioner, Jammu for the information of general public.