Displaced Kashmiri employees to be posted in safer areas after attacks on civilians

Employees recruited under a scheme for displaced Kashmiris will be posted in safe and secure instead of far-flung and vulnerable areas in Kashmir for the time being, officials said on Wednesday.

The announcement came following a series of targeted attacks that left seven civilians dead in the region this month. Displaced Kashmir Pandit employees expressed apprehensions about their postings in far-flung areas after the attacks.

Around 3,000 such employees are posted across Kashmir and a bulk of them stay in guarded transit government accommodations.

A teacher from Jammu was among the civilians killed in the targeted attacks that prompted many displaced Kashmiri employees to leave the Valley.

A statement quoting divisional commissioner (Kashmir) Pundurang K Pole on Wednesday said he has instructed deputy commissioners and senior police superintendents to regularly visit colonies and accommodations of displaced Kashmiris. It added they were being briefed about the security, confidence-building measures, facilities, and other arrangements being put in place for their safety and security.

“The officers have been issued clear cut directions to preferably post these migrant employees in safe and secure zones instead of far-flung and vulnerable areas for the time being.”

Office bearers of employees’ unions have visited some of the transit accommodations to express solidarity with the displaced Kashmiri employees.

The Centre told Parliament in July that 3,841 displaced Kashmiris have moved back to Kashmir and have taken up jobs across Kashmir under the Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation Package. It added 6,000 residential units were being constructed for the Kashmir Pandit employees in the Valley and that 1,000 of them have been allotted.