Livelihoods: The government has decided to resettle all the displaced Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley by 2022. It will also create 25,000 jobs for the people there and enable train connectivity to the region.
Speaking during the discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill of 2021 in the Lok Sabha, the Home Minister, Amit Shah, said that almost 3,000 government jobs had already been created in the last 17 months. He added that the central government had allocated INR 881 crore from the Ministry of Health under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) to the state.
The government also already provides INR 13,000 every month, along with free ration, to the families of 44,000 Kashmiri Pandits who have relief cards. In addition, it has plans to settle them back in their houses in the Valley by 2022, said the minister.
In terms of physical connectivity, there are plans to open the 8.45 km Banihal tunnel this year and to connect the Kashmir Valley with the Indian railways by 2022.
Read more about the abolition of Article 370 and its impact on Kashmir here.