Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated 1,416 transit accommodation flats for Prime Minister’s Package employees across three locations in the Kashmir Valley, describing the housing as a step towards improving living conditions and supporting the dignified return of Kashmiri Pandit families.
The main complex at Zewan in Srinagar, which was inaugurated by Sinha, contains 936 flats across 39 blocks. All the flats at the complex have been allotted. The Lieutenant Governor also virtually inaugurated residential complexes at Kakan Maran in Budgam and Kulangam Bagh in Kupwara.
The Budgam complex has 192 flats across 12 blocks, while the Kupwara project comprises 288 flats across 18 blocks. Together, the three sites add 1,416 homes to the accommodation being created for employees recruited under the Prime Minister’s Package.
Sinha said each flat represented the aspirations and hopes of a family seeking a secure future in Kashmir. He described the housing initiative as part of the effort to facilitate the dignified return of the Kashmiri Pandit community to the Valley, saying the region’s cultural, spiritual and civilisational heritage was closely connected with the community’s contribution.
“Kashmir is incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits and it is deprived of a precious part of its soul. Dignified return of Kashmiri Pandit families is a commitment to restoring the historical heritage and human dignity of the Kashmir,” Sinha said at the inauguration.
The accommodation is part of a larger project involving 6,000 flats across 342 blocks at 20 locations in 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley. The project was accelerated in 2020 in mission mode. According to the information provided at the inauguration, more than 5,200 of the sanctioned flats have been completed and over 3,800 have already been allotted.
The Prime Minister’s rehabilitation package was introduced by the United Progressive Alliance government in 2008 for Kashmiri Pandits living outside the Valley. It included 6,000 government jobs and the creation of new posts. Employees recruited under the package have been posted in government departments across Kashmir and are commonly referred to as PM Package employees.
The scale of the housing project places the inauguration within a wider government accommodation and service-delivery programme rather than treating it as a standalone residential handover. The complexes will require regular electricity and water supply, security arrangements, waste management and systems for addressing residents’ grievances.
Sinha directed the concerned authorities to complete all pending work without delay. He said the completion of the flats marked the beginning of a new responsibility and called for uninterrupted utilities, robust security, effective waste management and prompt grievance redressal at the residential complexes.
The remaining work under the 6,000-flat programme, including the delivery and allotment of pending units, will continue across the identified locations in the Kashmir Valley.
