Relief Disbursement Procedures Streamlined

K S Team   

Department of Kashmir Affairs, Govt. the procedures for disbursement of relief to Kashmiri migrants in and around Delhi According to a letter dated April 18, 1995, received by the General Secretary, Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi (KSD), the Government of India has advised the Delhi Administration to,

1. provide relief to those migrants who are registered in Delhi but have shifted to places outside Delhi like Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad, Sahibabad, etc. on the basis of certificates from the concerned authorities there to the effect that they are not registered in these State and are not drawing relief from there,

2 consider again for relief those migrant families who resided in Delhi initially and received their relief as per norms in vogue, but later left Delhi for other places in search of livelihood/jobs and have had to return to Delhi without success, subject to their proving that they have failed to fend for themselves. The certificate may be obtained from one of the recognised migrant associations in whose jurisdiction the families now reside;

3. recognise splits in families as a result of mariage of marriageable sons so that both the parents and the new families are eligible for relief under the norms;

4. restore relief under norms to those migrant families who have drawn relief as more than one family by splitting itself and obtaining more than one registration card. However, relief drawn over and above the entitled amount/ quantity by such family/families be recovered from the relief that may be due in future. Also, in view of the adverse circumstances in which these family/families are placed, a lenient view may be taken by not initiating any cases against them under law; instead such family/families may be black-listed to prevent them from taking similar undue benefits in future.

5. pay difference of permissible cash relief to those Government servants as well who receive pension of less then Rs. 1000/- p.m.

6. pay monthly relief to those registered migrants who did not draw any ad-hoc monthly relief after registration provided they establish that they are without any source of income and explain reasons for not claiming their relief in the intervening period.

7. not to discontinue relief to a migrant family which has been rehabilitated by the Govt. of India until it assures itself that the family is enjoying a regular stream of income out of the assets acquired by it through the rehabilitation measure.

All this has become possible by the perseverance and persistence with which the Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi has been pursuing the case for about a year now. The last meeting in this connection was held with the Joint Secretary, Kashmir Affairs, on January 23, 1995,

by the then Vice-President, KSD, Shri Sunil Shakdher, and the then General Secretary, KSD, Dr. L.N. Dhar. (The two have since exchanged their offices in the Samiti as a result of the Samiti elections held in March 1995).

II. As regards payment of relief to those migrants who own property outside Kashmir Valley, the Government view is that no affluent migrant is entitled to relief as relief is just succour and not compensation for loss of income. While the argument cannot be disputed, the Kashmiri Samiti feels that:

(a) migrants owning immovable property outside Kashmir but are not in a position to fend for themselves and have no rental income from their properties should be entitled to relief; and

(b) migrants who are not in a position to fend for themselves and whose rental income is less than their relief entitlement ought to be paid the difference between the two.

The KSD is taking up this issue with the Joint Secretary and a representation to the effect will be sent to him early.

DISCLAIMER:

The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article.

Courtesy:- K.S. Team and April-May 1995 Koshur Samachar