Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today announced that the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, living in camps in Jammu and New Delhi, would be provided two-room houses. The announcement came minutes after his visit to Muthi Migrant Camp where at least six members of a family live in one-room tenements.The camp residents shared their problems with Singh, who was accompanied by his wife, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Governor S.K. Sinha. Later, addressing a gathering here, the PM said the living conditions at the camps were dismal and needed special attention. He promised two-room sets for the displaced families soon.The PM also said that an inter-ministerial team would be formed, which would look at concrete steps for rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits and also generate education and employment opportunities for the youth.Striking a chord with the displaced community, the PM said: ‘‘Aap apne hi desh mein sarnarthi ho gaye, jo bahut dukh ki baat hai. (You have become refugees in your own country, which is painful).’’ The Kashmiri Pandits, who were mainly hoping for a concrete employment and rehabilitation package, said they regarded the PM’s visit to their camp as an ‘‘achievement’’ but it was ‘‘not as generous as in other parts of the state’’. They, however, hoped that the community would receive its share in the Rs 24,000-crore package announced for the state.‘‘The visit itself is an achievement and houses to KPs would ameliorate the conditions of those living in camps, but then more concrete announcements should have been made here,’’ said Ankit Nehru, a class X student. A social activist, H.L Bhat, submitted a six-page memorandum to the PM, stating that in Kashmir over 6,000 houses of KPs have been destroyed, which should also be brought to the government’s notice. The vice-president of Kashmir Vichar Manch, R.L. Bhat, said the common factor in all the memoranda had been return of the KPs to the Valley with dignity, besides employment to the youth. Bhat claimed that in the past 15 years over 9,000 KPs in government jobs have retired but not a single one has been recruited.
