Governor NN Vohra has stressed timely construction of 13,512 individual and community bunkers for residents of villages of Jammu division staying along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LOC) where they can take refuge during shelling by Pakistan troops.

A sum of Rs 50 crore has already been released to the divisional commissioner, Jammu, to enable speedy construction.

The Governor chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday to review the issues relating to safety and welfare of the border residents.

The meeting was attended by the Governor’s advisors BB Vyas, K Vijay Kumar and Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam; Principal Secretary Home R K Goyal, and Director General of Police S P Vaid.

The Governor was apprised about the status regarding construction of individual and community bunkers all along the IB and LoC in Jammu Division.

Vohra directed that immediate action must be taken to protect the lives and properties of the border residents. He reviewed disbursement of compensation to the victims of cross-border firing under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) and Central Schemes for assistance to civilian victims of cross-border firing and was informed that a sum of Rs 95 lakh has been disbursed in 19 cases and the remaining 18 cases were under process.

The Governor was informed that during the current fiscal, Rs. 1.17 crore has been disbursed as compensation for loss of property and livestock. He directed Home Secretary to nominate Nodal Officers in the Home Department, in the offices of Divisional Commissioners and District Development Commissioners to ensure timely disbursement of relief.

To mitigate the sufferings of the border residents who are forced to migrate due to unprovoked firing from across the border, Governor also reviewed the progress on the construction of Seema Bhavans. As per the proposed project, 95 Border Bhavans are to be constructed in border areas at a cost of Rs 2,300 crore. Each Border Bhavan would be able to shelter 250 to 1,000 people and provide basic amenities like dormitories, community kitchen, toilets, classrooms etc.

While taking note of the unemployment problem in the border areas of the state, Governor directed Home Secretary to expedite the recruitment process for raising two Border Police battalions.

He was informed that one police battalion each has been sanctioned for Jammu and Kashmir divisions and that recruitment for the post of constables has to be made from amongst the youth living in the area along IB and LoC in the state and that recruitment of 2,000 SPOs from the border belt areas has also been initiated.

The Governor directed for completing the entire recruitment process at the earliest in a transparent manner.