‘Decks cleared for Kashmir’s first Sainik colony’

Srinagar: Some media reports have suggested recently that the J&K administration has identified 25 acres of land in Budgam district to set up Kashmir’s first Sainik colony.

Earlier too, during the previous political dispensations, talk about establishment of a Sainik colony in Kashmir created a lot of protests in political circles and also from the civil society forcing the government not to go ahead.

This colony has been a demand of retired armed forces personnel in Kashmir and now all decks have been cleared for its establishment at Budgam district, officials confirmed to some media outlets.

Such colonies for retired army personnel and their families have been established in Jammu division, but in Kashmir, all the previous attempts to make a Sainik colony faced a lot of opposition.

According to reports, this 25-acre grazing land of villagers would be transferred soon, as the process has been almost completed. After getting the directions from the higher-ups in the administration, revenue officials of Budgam district have been coordinating with the Sainik Welfare Department in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Sainik Welfare Board has been pursuing with the J&K administration to establish at least one colony for ex-servicemen and their families in Kashmir valley, while already three such colonies have been established in Jammu.

Most senior bureaucrats in the Jammu and Kashmir administration have now allegedly developed a habit not to respond to any queries from Srinagar-based journalists and most of them refused even to confirm or deny these reports of establishment of Sainik colony in Budgam district. But reports suggested that the transfer of land is awaiting the necessary clearance from the chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir and it would be done within days.

Initially, such proposals faced a lot of opposition in Kashmir as the people used to say that the government, under the garb of the Sainik colony, will basically bring the security forces with their families and make them citizens of Kashmir. Now after the amendment in the domicile law and also in the land laws, the government can move forward without any opposition.