Govt to form panel to discuss return of Pandits to Valley

M Aamir Khan

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 6

The government will form a new state-level advisory committee, which will take suggestions from all stakeholders to facilitate the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.

Law Minister Basharat Bukhari said the committee will take “real representatives” of the displaced community into confidence and draft a plan for the return of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley.

Formation of new advisory committee is imperative as the previous one had not taken into confidence all stakeholders, Bukhari said while responding to a supplementary question by BJP MLC Surinder Ambardar in the Legislative Council here today.

Ambardar suggested that the House should hold a separate discussion on the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, which he said was an “international issue”.

He also said the government should “revisit” the Prime Minister’s package to provide jobs to the unemployed youth of the community.

The government, however, said the Centre had already given approval for providing 3,000 state government jobs to the migrants.