Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo on Saturday held an intensive meeting with the Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction (DMRR&R) to assess the relief and rehabilitation measures being extended to different migrant categories of J&K besides the status of disaster management preparedness across different districts of the region.
Present in the meeting were Principal Secretary, Home and DMRR&R Departments; Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir/Jammu; Secretary, PWD; CEO, SHA; Relief Commissioner; Chief Engineers of PWD and other concerned officers and officials of the department.
Dulloo enquired about the present status of relief and rehabilitation measures being extended to different migrant categories in the UT. He said that the set timelines for each of these measures should be met without any fail.
He took note of the location wise status of 6000 transit accommodations being constructed for Kashmiri Pandit (PM Package) employees. He asked about the details of flats constructed, under-construction and those allotted and occupied by these employees.
He said that the flats completed in all respects should be allotted forthwith and the allied works like construction of boundary walls, internal roads, approach roads should also be taken up for actual utilisation of these structures.
Regarding inclusion of these migrant families under NFSA, the Chief Secretary emphasised on extending allied benefits like old age and widow pensions, marriage assistance, scholarships, Ayushman Bharat Gold Cards to them to clear any doubt in their mind besides enhancing its uptake among others.
The Chief Secretary also asked for updating the ‘Kashmiri Migrant Grievance’ portal to make its functioning more satisfactory for its users. He called for appointment of Nodal Officer for different regions by the office of Relief Commissioner who would ensure satisfactory resolution of grievances registered by personally taking up the issues with the concerned Deputy Commissioners.
He further directed for digitization of all the migrant records to enhance the overall efficiency of these relief measures. He called for updating the website of Relief Organization through NIC to make it more user-friendly and informative simultaneously.
The meeting took note of the progress on outreach campaigns launched to cover PoJK and other West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs) under the Rehabilitation Package meant for them. It also discussed the status of different infrastructural projects including establishment of ‘PoJK Bhawan’ at Suketar, Community Hall at Jagti and other demands of these displaced people.
Dulloo impressed upon the Department to further gear up for enhancing the capacity of the Department to deal with different disasters the UT is vulnerable to. He urged them to make the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) functional by optimal utilization of its capacity. He observed that it has added role at the time of disasters while ensuring relief to the affected population.
He emphasised upon utilising the data collected after carrying out expeditions to different mountainous lakes to prevent disasters of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF).He called for training the students and other volunteers for enhancing their ability to work during relief activities.
Principal Secretary, DMRR&R, Chandraker Bharti, informed the meeting about different activities and achievements including strengthening of UT, Divisional and District level disaster management systems by deploying necessary manpower there.
He apprised the meeting of the relief and disaster management activities being carried out by the department and the functioning of State Disaster Response Fund(SDRF). Additionally, he made out that DDMPs for the year 2024-25 of all the 20 districts had been updated and UT specific disaster notification stands issued for relief of the affected population.
Furthermore, he apprised the meeting of J&K’s implementation of PM’s ‘Ten Point Agenda on DRR’. He also threw light on the status of other hazards specific plans like Heat Wave Action Plan, Flood Management Action Plan prepared, Cold wave Action Plan had been prepared along with 22 Landslide studies conducted by GSI.
It was added that an EOC coming up at Ompura, Budgam would be made functional by the end of this month. Further, the Department has also launched Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) with a toll free number of 112 for receiving the disaster response calls.
Other initiatives and activities of the Department that were discussed included IDIN for mapping of resources, Common Alert Protocol (CAP) by integrating alert generating agencies IMD, CWC, INCOIS, DGRE, FSI) and disseminating these alerts about disasters through TSPs, TV, Radio, Cable TV, Social media, Indian Railways, Coastal Sirens etc.
Earlier, Relief Commissioner, Arvind Karwani, gave detailed presentation about the status of transit accommodations and jobs being provided to Kashmiri Migrants in different districts of the valley.
He detailed out that, out of 6000 jobs, 5868 appointments had been made till date and only the posts facing certain issues or sub-judice are currently in limbo.
Regarding the transit accommodations, he informed the meeting that 5632 flats had been taken up for construction with 3152 completed till date.
About relief to both the Kashmir and Jammu migrants, it was given out that 9 kg of Rice, 2 kg Aata and 1 kg of sugar is being given to each soul in the family. In addition, a cash assistance of up to Rs 13,000/family is being provided to 20,564 and 908 families from Kashmir and Jammu respectively.