Rs 1,600cr for migrants

The sops include a grant to families who sold or lost their house, assistance for education of children of migrant families and 6,000 jobs to migrant youth, reports Aloke Tikku.

The Centre on Friday unveiled a slew of sops worth Rs 1,600 crore to encourage 55,000 Kashmiri families who fled the Valley 19 years ago to return.

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The package, announced by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil in Parliament, coincided with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Jammu.

The sops include a lump sum grant of Rs 7.5 lakh to families who sold or lost their house, assistance for education of children of migrant families and 6,000 jobs to migrant youth in the state government. A package is also being worked out for other unemployed youth to help them get vocational training.

Besides, Patil said the government was examining the feasibility of waiving interest on unpaid loans taken by the migrants before they fled the Valley as a one-time settlement package.

Patil also said that the monthly relief being given to 15,000 migrant families in Jammu and Delhi would continue for two more years to those who return to the Valley.