Government to continue eight schemes for refugees

The Union government has decided to continue with eight umbrella scheme for relief and rehabilitation of migrants and repatriates, including offering assistance for one-time settlement of displaced families from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and displaced Bru persons from Mizoram.

The Union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its nod to the schemes which will provide relief and rehabilitation assistance to the refugees, displaced persons, civilian victims of terrorist, communal, Naxal violence and crossborder firing and mine/IED blasts on Indian territory and riot victims of various incidents, said the government in an official statement.

The government will have to shell out Rs 3,183 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20 to execute the schemes. The cabinet go-ahead to repatriation of Bru tribe, who were forced to flee from their homes in Mizoram due to ethnic violence in 1997, came a day after an agreement was signed between Centre, governments of Mizoram and Tripura, and Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) in presence of Union home minister Rajnath Singh.


Due to the settlement reached between different stakeholders, 5,407 Bru families comprising of 32,876 persons who are presently residing in temporary camps of Tripura will be brought back to Mizoram before September 30.

The Cabinet has also sanctioned rehabilitation package and up-gradation of infrastructure of the Bangladeshi enclaves and Cooch Behar District after transfer of enclaves between India and Bangladesh under Land Boundary Agreement, the official statement stated. It has announced enhanced relief of Rs 5 lakh to family of victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots.