Jagdish Raj (right) moved to India from PoK at the time of Partition when he was just six.
For the first time since Partition, over 36,000 PoK refugee families, settled in Jammu and Kashmir, will get compensation from the central government. The centre's Rs 2,000-crore development package for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir refugees comes as good news for people like Jagdish Raj, who settled in India as a six-year-old at the time of Partition. Each of these displaced families will get Rs 5.5 lakh each.
Jagdish Raj's life had been a struggle for the past 70 years as his family was left landless when they moved to India. He had heard the big promises of successive governments for over 7 decades, but no help came their way until December 30, 2016. Jagdish Raj's family is among the first batch of PoK families to get the 5.5 lakhs from the centre.
"A begining has been made and we are very happy. It has been a long wait, many governments changed, but nothing changed for us. The present government has done justice with us and I am very happy about it," said the 76-year-old.
Though the move has been welcomed, many of these refugees families are demanding the time-bound implementation of the package.
"We welcome this move, but the government should bring out when will the entire package be doled out. When will all the refugees get justice,"said Rajeev Chunni, who is heads the group that represents the PoK refugee families.
The Jammu and Kashmir government hails the development as the first major outreach towards the refugees since Independence. It adds that the PDP-BJP coalition is committed to supporting the community.
"These people have come from PoK and have been living in India for such long time. The compensation has been pending for a long time, we are glad that the Prime Minister has granted Rs 2,000 crore for their development," said Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
But the question being asked by some is that is the development package too little for a community that has suffered for so long.