Jammu, May 19(KNS): Kashmiri Pandit leaders welcomed the administration’s decision to organise migrant land grievance redressal camps in Jammu, saying the move would provide relief to displaced families seeking restoration and protection of their properties in Kashmir.
In a joint statement, senior Kashmiri Pandit leader M.K. Yogi and social activist Vinod Pandita expressed gratitude to Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the Chief Secretary and the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner for holding the camps at the office of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner in Jammu.
The leaders said that after the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1990, many immovable properties, including ancestral land, houses, temples and shrines, were allegedly encroached upon or damaged over the years.
They said despite the existence of the Jammu and Kashmir Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection and Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997, its implementation remained inadequate, forcing displaced migrants to visit different revenue offices for decades without resolution of their grievances.
Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
“The decision to hold grievance camps in Jammu has provided convenience to the displaced community, which had been struggling for years for the restoration and protection of its properties,” the statement said.
The leaders also thanked deputy commissioners and nodal officers from Kashmir who participated in the camps and registered complaints related to migrant properties.
They expressed hope that the initiative would lead to tangible action on pending grievances and that the outcome would be visible in the public domain within a reasonable time.
Yogi and Pandita also urged custodians of migrant properties and revenue authorities in Kashmir to expedite disposal of pending cases and ensure implementation of the migrant property law in letter and spirit with accountability, the statement added.(KNS)