Congress MP To Introduce Private Member Bill In Rajya Sabha Seeking Rehabilitation Of Kashmiri Pandits

In an attempt to circle the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on the issue of rehabilitation of Kahmiri Pandits, a Member of Parliament (MP) from Congress is all set to introduce a private member bill for the same.

As per reports, Vivek Tankha, a Rajya Sabha MP, plans to introduce the ‘Kashmiri Pandit (Recourse, Restitution, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Act’ in the upper house urging the government to ensure rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits in the valley at the earliest, restoration of the properties encroached from them, and taking steps towards providing a security and employment umbrella to encourage the community’s return.

Elaborate infrastructural facilities, heavy security, investments for promoting entrepreneurship among the returnees, quotas in education and employment, a monthly family support, and listing of the Kashmiri Pandits as a “minority” under the National Commission for Minorities Act are the steps that the MP’s bill seeks to institute.

In case of encroached properties, the bill says such properties which were sold after 1989-90, be declared “distress sale”, thus making the sale of these properties null and void and restoring them to the original owners.