A high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday discussed various issues pertaining to Jammu & Kashmir including rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandit migrants, return of civilian land by the Army and the situation along the line of Control. The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parikar, State Governor NN Vohra and National Security Adviser Ajit K Doval.
According to official sources, the issue of surrender of civilian land being used by the Army was discussed at the meeting and it was decided that state’s Chief Secretary will hold a meeting with Defence Ministry officials to identify those and work out a proposal.
The Army had in principle agreed to hand over the 139-acre ‘Tattoo ground’ to the State Government but a final decision had to be taken by the Defence Ministry. According to sources, the Army has been pressing for regularisation of a land in Gulmarg in return for the ‘Tattoo ground’.
“In the meeting it was decided that decisions and action on decisions taken earlier, would be expedited, especially with regard to sparing of land(s) not required for operational reasons,” said Home Ministry.
The rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley and identifying land for their resettlement also came up for discussion. There are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families who left the State after the onset of militancy in the 1990s.