500 non-migrant families receive migrant relief in Jammu

Budgam tops with 168 Muslim and 50 non-Muslim families getting Rs 5000 a month plus ration

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Aug 28: Over 500 families, continuously living at their respective homes in Kashmir valley, are believed to be among thousands of migrant families who receive relief of Rs 5,000 and rations every month from Relief Organisation in Jammu. These include all the 168 Muslim families of Budgam district, besides nearly 50 non-Muslim families, who figure in the long list of “migrant families” while their continuously living in Valley.

Informed sources revealed to Early Times that not less than 500 families, living continuously and comfortably at their respective homes in Kashmir valley, are among recipients of migrant relief in Jammu for over a decade. In league with officials of Police and Revenue departments, besides those working in the office of Relief Commissioner, these families are said to have got themselves registered as migrants in Jammu from 1990 to 2004. CID and Security Wing headquarters those days used to issue certificates of threat perception and resultant displacement on fake and engineered threatening statements against cash payment.

Party workers of a Revenue Minister from Budgam district had reportedly collected money from hundreds of residents in Beerwah-Khansahab belt with the assurance that they would be provided government jobs at monthly wages of Rs 3,000. These unscrupulous elements managed to raise monthly relief of migrants from Rs 1800 to Rs 3000. Within days, over 150 non-migrant Muslim families were declared as migrant by Ministry of Revenue and thus made entitled to payment of Rs 3000 a month.

Amount of monthly relief has, over the years, reached Rs 1250 per member but subject to a maximum of Rs 5000. Migrant families are also paid 9 kilos of rice and 2 kilos of atta each soul besides 1 kilo of sugar per family. Even as registrations have taken place from time to time in the last 21 years, all these families are shown to have taken the relief from 1990. Enquiries revealed that only one Muslim family of Budgam district had actually migrated to Jammu. Benefit was also showered on the brother of then News Editor of Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar in lieu of “excessive news coverage” to then Revenue Minister. The beneficiary had not migrated to Jammu even for a single day.

The beneficiaries are understood to have created a mechanism to conveniently receive the monthly relief in Jammu. Officials reportedly retain the ration items, dispose off the aggregate quantities among retail and CAPD dealers and also take a cut from the cash relief. Agents operate on behalf of different clusters and conduct the transactions, apparently without the knowledge of Relief Commissioner.

In reply to a Jammu-based RTI activist Raman Sharma’s RTI application, dated 8-2-2011, Assistant Commissioner Relief Organisation Jammu revealed vide letter No: RCM/AC/CAMPS/2482 Dated 26-2-2011, that a total of 2671 Hindu families, 168 Muslim families and 336 Sikh families from Budgam district stood registered as migrants. All of them, according to PIO, had been receiving the relief from 1990. The PIO, however, declined to provide any information with regard to details of the beneficiary families. He also contended that no information could be provided as to how many of these families had been living in migrant camps and how many of them had been provided government accommodation.

The PIO maintained that the information sought was being suppressed under section 8 sub section (f) and (i) of J&K RTI Act of 2009. This section bars sharing of any information that could endanger life or physical safety of an individual, invade lawful privacy of an individual or identify source of an information given in confidence for law enforcement or security purpose.

RTI activist Dr Muzaffar Bhat disagrees with the PIO’s argument. “It has been observed that a number of officials suppress information under smokescreen of section 8 though the information sought does not even remotely endanger an individual’s life or physical safety”, Dr Bhat argued. He claimed that revealing details about migrant families of Budgam district, as sought by the RTI applicant, would in no way invade privacy of any individual. He asserted that an appeal would be filed soon against suppression of the information by PIO of Relief Organisation.

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