NEW DELHI, January 6 (Sputnik) — Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh has approved concessions for West Pakistan Refugees living in the Jammu and Kashmir state, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday.
Singh has approved certain concessions for the West Pakistan refugees settled in Jammu and Kashmir after considering the problems they are facing.
He has directed the heads of all Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) that West Pakistan refugees from Jammu and Kashmir, who are Indian citizens and have valid voter IDs, should be considered for recruitment, including special recruitment drives conducted in the state.
The minister has also informed the country's Defense Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar that similar concessions, such as waiving the condition whereby DCs and Identity Certificates must be produced, may be allowed for recruitment to the Armed Forces.
Singh has also instructed the state government of Jammu and Kashmir to resume the issuance of DCs to West Pakistan refugees settled in the state so as to provide them with equal employment opportunities.
Instructions have also been issued to the Department of School Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development to accommodate the children of such West Pakistan refugees in Jammu and Kashmir in admissions to the central schools in the state. Similar instructions have been issued to the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development to extend those concessions available to the wards of Kashmiri migrants to the wards of West Pakistan refugees in Jammu and Kashmir for admission to technical and professional institutes outside the state.
During the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 many people migrated from West Pakistan and settled in Jammu Division of Jammu and Kashmir as refugees. They are deprived of certain constitutional rights, including voting rights.
