Parliamentary Committee on Home suggests MHA to expedite resettlement work for Bru migrants
Mar 14, 2022
New Delhi [India], March 14 : Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs has advised the Central government to expedite the resettlement work for Bru migrants.
The report submitted in the Rajya Sabha on Monday also recommended that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) may conduct a meeting with all the concerned stakeholders to resolve the issues hampering the commencement of resettlement work at the remaining 13 locations so that the resettlement work is completed within a timeframe and without cost-overruns.
The Committee notes that the resettlement work for Bru migrants is going on at 7 out of 19 locations identified by the State Government of Tripura.
The Committee further notes that there has been a delay in resettlement due to pending forest clearances for new locations, dispute amongst the local groups and Bru migrants, and the reluctance of Bru migrants to shift to certain locations identified by the State Government.
The Committee also notes that 2,021 families (out of 6,959 families) of Bru migrants have been settled in the seven identified locations, out of which House Building Allowance has been released to 1,974 families and 843 houses have been completed, Fixed Deposit (FD) of Rs 4 lakhs have been released to 387 families and monthly cash 21 assistance of Rs 5,000 has been released to 460 families.
However, the Ministry has furnished no information with regard to the distribution of free rations to them.
Therefore, it is unclear as to whether these 2,021 families are receiving all the facilities or not. Further, the status of the remaining 4,938 families is also not clear as to whether they are receiving adequate help from the Centre or states government or not, till their final resettlement.
The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry may ensure to provide all assistance including ration, health, and education facilities for the children of the migrants, at the earliest.
The Committee also notes that 6,000 transit accommodations will be constructed in Kashmir Valley to provide accommodation to employed Kashmiri Migrants.
In its 235th Report on the 'Action taken by Government on the Observation or Recommendation contained in 231st Report on Demands For Grants (2021-22) of the MHA', the Committee has expressed concern on slow progress in the construction of transit accommodation for Kashmiri migrants.
The Committee, therefore, recommends that the MHA may remove bottlenecks hampering the construction of remaining transit accommodations and create a monitoring mechanism for timely completion of the remaining accommodations.
The adequate allocation may be requested from the Ministry of Finance for the purpose," suggested the Committee.
