Transit camps in Valley deserted
4,500 recruited under PM package since 2010
3,400 lived in rented accommodation
1,100 lived in transit camps; 50% have left valley
SRINAGAR / NEW DELHI: Shaken by a spate of targeted civilian killings, hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit families left transit camps in the Valley in the dead of night on Thursday, June 2, while a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on June 4 reviewed the security situation in Kashmir, a report in The Triibune, Chandigarh, says.
The transit camps looked deserted on Friday as hundreds of fear-stricken employees escaped to Jammu.
At the highly guarded Sheikhpora transit camp in Budgam, which used to house nearly 400 migrant families, only 30 families stayed back to sort out school-related issues of their children.
“The 30 remaining families which will also soon leave have managed to get the approval of the school administration to allow their kids to attend online classes,” said Ashwini Pandita, a PWD engineer.
The MHA meeting convened in the wake of nine targeted killings since May 1 was attended by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Manoj Pande and Lt Governor of J&K Manoj Sinha among others.
Shah reviewed the overall security situation in J&K with special focus on the safety of Kashmiri Pandits living in the Valley, an MHA official said. The meeting chaired by Shah was the second such exercise in less than a fortnight. Since 2010, nearly 4,500 employees have been appointed under the PM’s special employment scheme for Kashmir Pandit migrants.
Nearly 1,100 employees were living with their families in transit camps while others were living in rented accommodation.
The meeting chaired by Shah was the second such exercise in less than a fortnight. Since 2010, nearly 4,500 employees have been appointed under the PM’s special employment scheme for Kashmir Pandit migrants.
Besides Sheikhpora, similar scenes of migration were witnessed last night at Anantnag, Kupwara and Baramulla transit camps, where over 50 per cent of the families have left.
The Pandits, meanwhile, have accused the government of forcing the employees to migrate en masse.
“My family and I left on Thursday night as no one is safe in the Valley,” said Ashwani Sadhu, an engineer, who along with nearly 400 employees was putting up at Sheikhpora transit camp.
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