In Jammu, which is the nearest place of refuge, nearly 300 kms away from the Kashmir Valley, 29,074 families have taken refuge. They comprise 25,703 Hindu families, mostly Pandits; 1,818 Sikh families, 1,478 Muslim families and 75 others.

Non-government employees' families, numbering 14,206, have to subsist on government dole, which is in the form of cash relief and free rations. A family gets a maximum of Rs 1,800 a month. Free monthly rations comprise 9 kgs rice and 2 kgs flour per head and a kilo of sugar per family.

Government employees' families, numbering 14,868, are on leave salary. They don't get any cash relief and are only entitled to rations against payment. Out of them, 4,100 families, mostly from the6,000 Pandit families living in tents and government properties initially, have moved into rooms, euphemistically called ORTs (one-room tenements), which have been constructed by the government in various camps on the outskirts of Jammu.

Other states undertake relief measures along similar lines, too, except for providing the rooms, as was revealed by the-then minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, S R Balasubramoniyan, in Parliament on July 23, 1997. Delhi gives cash relief of Rs 450 per head per month, subject to a maximum of Rs 1,800 per family, to those living on their own, and cash relief of Rs 300 per head, subject to a maximum of Rs 1,200 per family, plus dry rations consisting of rice (8 kgs per head), flour (2.5 kgs per head), sugar (625 gms per head), pulses (750 gms per head), kerosene oil (15 litres per family), edible oil (750 gms per head), potatoes (5 kgs per family), onions (1.25 kgs per head), salt (50 gms per head), to others. A family can't claim rations for more than fourmembers.

The government of Uttar Pradesh offers a one-time payment of Rs 1,500 per family, and a monthly cash assistance of Rs 750 per family per month. The Rajasthan government pay a cash relief of Rs 500 per family per month. In Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, families are getting cash relief of Rs 460 per family per month of four or more members, in addition to a one-time grant of Rs 860. Displaced Kashmiris are given cash relief of Rs 200 per month per head and ration cards in Madhya Pradesh. The Chandigarh administration pays cash relief of Rs 250 per member per month, subject to a maximum of Rs 1,000 per family plus milk, bread and rations to those staying in camps, and Rs 375 per member per month, subject to a maximum of Rs 1,500 per family per month, to those living on their own. In Haryana, free tuition fee up to degree level and temporary ration cards are offered. Other places provide only registration facilities, but no relief measures.

Starvation diet

Inadequate relief can be killing.The diet of the displaced Kashmiri women was found markedly deficient by I Poongothai of the New Delhi based Lady Irwin College in her dissertation, Kashmiri Women in Migrant Camps in Delhi--An Assessment of Nutritional Status. She found their diet low in the consumption of pulses, meat and milk.

While examining 75 Kashmiri women (20-39 years) in five camps in 1993, she found that the mean daily intake of protein fell short of the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) by 9.5 per cent, riboflavin by 30.6 per cent and iron by 69.2 per cent. The mean Hb level in these camp women was only 10.3 g/dl, which is well below 12 g/dl, the lower acceptable limit for adult women. In fact, 84 per cent women were anaemic, with Hb between 6.1 and 11.9 g/dl. Also, 41 per cent women had pallor conjuctiva and 2.7 per cent koilonchia. And 47 per cent of the women were below the 15th percentile on the basis of weight for health, according to the National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS) reference data.

At the time ofstudy, the women's families were getting cash relief of Rs 125 per month per person, subject to a maximum of Rs 500 per month per family of four or more members. Each person was also given dry rations of rice (7.5 kgs), flour (2.5 kgs), pulses (1 kg), potatoes (5 kgs), onions (1.25 kgs), sugar (500 gms), salt (250 gms), tea (150 gms) and kerosene oil (3.75 litres). The relief measures have been revised since then. But whether the new relief measures have outstripped the inflation rate and improved the dietary intake of the displaced population or continued the deprivation is difficult to figure out in the absence of a subsequent study.

Pampering the terrorists

Terrorists get voluntary retirement benefits, too. From the exchequer. In fact, surrendered terrorists even get a better deal than the displaced people. According to the New Surrender Policy, issued on April 20, 1997, by the J&K government, a ``surrenderee'' is paid a stipend of Rs 1,800 per month from the date of his surrender for a year ortill his resettlement.

A ``surrenderee'' is paid Rs 600 per month as catering allowance while undergoing training in repairing home appliances, radio and television, vehicles, welding, etc, at the rehabilitation centres located at Reasi and Mansbal. Besides, they earn a bonus on turning in arms and ammunition like AK 47/56/74 rifles (Rs 15,000), UMG/GPMG/ PICKA/ RPG sniper rifles (Rs 25,000), pistols/ revolvers (Rs 3,000), rockets (Rs 1,000), grenades/hand grenades/stick grenades (Rs 500), remote control devices (Rs 3,000), ammunition (Rs 3 per round), IED (Rs 3,000); explosive material (Rs 1,000 per kg), wireless sets short range (Rs 1,000), and wireless sets long range (Rs 5,000). The largesse doesn't include amnesty for heinous crimes like murder, rape or abduction, in which the law is left to take its own course.

(The writer is a displaced Kashmiri journalist with The Financial Express and presently working on a fellowship on Reproductive Health Issues of Displaced Kashmiri Pandits,commissioned by Panos Institute, London and South Asia.)