The government has started an overarching outreach programme in Kashmir Valley
Young men from the Kashmiri Pandit community came together for a special prayer at the historic Ganesha temple at Srinagar's Ganpatyar on Wednesday morning. Most of them had decided to move out of the Valley for work, but now have a reason to stay back.
Earlier this month the centre earmarked 500 posts in government offices under the Prime Minister's employment package for Kashmiri Pandits who have stayed in the Valley.
"This is an initiative by the Government of India," said ML Raina, the Relief Commissioner (Migrants). The representatives of Kashmiri Pandits, he said, had met with the officials of the union home ministry and expressed their concerns. "That's why the government made exclusive provisions to give them the benefits of the package," he said.
The government has started an overarching outreach programme in Kashmir Valley, under which amnesty has been given to first-time offenders in the stone throwing protests.
Since militancy erupted in early 1990s, more than two lakh Kashmiri Pandits had left the Valley. Today, around 3,500 people from 800 families live in Kashmir. So far, the government's emphasis has been on relief and rehabilitation to the migrant Pandits. This is the first time an effort has been made to reach out to those who never left the Valley.
The process had started after Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti, a Kashmir-based organization of the community, approached the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 2013, seeking extension of package for Pandits who stayed on in the Valley.
"This is good news for entire Kashmir. The composite culture, Kashmiriyat, democracy, socialism and tolerance that we say is alive and take pride in, can only survive when minority community lives with majority community," said Sanjay Tickoo, President of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti.
"I have spent my childhood in Kashmir, my family stayed here. If we work here, it means the next generation will live here. It is a positive initiative if the government wants minorities to keep on living in Kashmir," said Amit Dhar, an engineering graduate.
"We want the jobs to be given soon, so we can continue to stay in Kashmir. It is our paradise. We have spent our life here and so have our parents, we are very happy today," said Sunandhan Handoo, a management graduate.