'Congress lacked intent to restore Kashmiri Pandits to their homeland': Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday spoke about the development of the Union territory of Jammu-Kashmir and slammed the Congress party, accusing it of not doing anything for restoring Kashmiri Pandits back to their homeland. 

"In 1991, when Kashmir Budget was discussed here in the Parliament, the Kashmiri Pandits' genocide had happened. No human rights issue was raised back then. Human rights people worry about Kashmir, I want to say that the National Human Rights Commission of India was not even there in the previous government," the Finance Minister said. 

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"After VP Singh, Congress came to power many times. They could have restored the Kashmiri Pandits to their homeland and instituted an inquiry, but you lacked the intention. Till today, the person who murdered the air force officer was roaming free in the public light; we arrested him. We made sure that Jammu-Kashmir gets justice, a true sense of peace prevails, and real development happens," she added. 

During her Lok Sabha address, Finance Minister Nirmala stated that she hopes the Congress party stands by the government as it works towards developing and supporting the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir.  

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'Govt Making Efforts For rehabilitation Of Kashmiri Migrants'- MoS Reddy

Earlier on March 4, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy informed the Rajya Sabha about the central government making efforts to provide rehabilitation facilities to Kashmiri migrants, to create a conducive environment for their safe return to the Valley. 

Listing several other benefits to the migrants in a written statement in the Rajya Sabha, Reddy said that the Centre provides monthly financial relief to the eligible Kashmiri migrants settled in Jammu.

Since 2014, the monthly cash relief has been enhanced twice, that is, from Rs. 6,600 per family to Rs.10,000 per family in 2015 and to Rs.13,000 per family in 2018. In addition, a dry ration is also provided to these Kashmiri migrants," he added.

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