In a step which has elated the Kashmiri Pandit community living outside theri homeland Kashmir for over three decades, the President Droupadi Murmu has recommended that a private member’s bill calling for rehabilitation and resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits for consideration in the Rajya Sabha.
The Kashmiri Pandits (Recourse, Restitution, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Bill, 2022, was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Congress member Vivek Tankha on February 2, 2024, but had to get the President’s recommendation as it involves financial implications.
“For the first time in the Parliament, a private member bill titled “Kashmiri Pandits (Recourse, Restitution, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Bill, 2022″ has been recommended by the Hon’ble President for consideration in the house, subject to time constraint,” Tankha said in a post on X.
“If discussed and approved, this can be a turning point in the fight for justice for Kashmiri Pandits. Its a big achievement as very few bills with financial implications, get recommend by the Hon’ble President under clause (3) of Article 117 of the Constitution,” Tankha said in a following post.
He also tagged a letter from the Rajya Sabha secretariat that stated: “I am directed to state that the Hon’ble President of India has been pleased to recommend, under clause (3) of Article 117 of the Constitution, consideration of the Kashmiri Pandits (Recourse, Restitution, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Bill, 2022, which was introduced by you on February 2, 2024, in the Rajya Sabha.”
Nearly 4.5 lakh Kashmiri Pandits were displaced from their homes in Kashmir after the advent of separatist militancy.
Any private member Bill that has a money component requires the President’s prior approval for being taken up by either of the two Houses of Parliament, the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.
The key features of the Bill include Social, Political and economic rehabilitation of the community besides setting u of an Advisory Committee by the centre with at least 21 representatives from the community as its members including 3 members from Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD and two representatives of non kashmiri Pandit minorities. It also has the prvision of increasing ceiling of monthly cash relief given to registered Pandit families.It also envisages security aspect suggesting one member of each Kashmiri Pandit family living in Kashmir will be isssued an arms license.
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