Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Sikh IDPs offered Rs6m package for returning home

ATTOCK: The Punjab government has approved special relief package of about Rs6 million for the Sikh Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Swat, Malaknad and Buner to facilitate them in returning to their native areas.

The Sikh IDPs had been residing in Gurdawara Punja Sahib Hasanabdal for the last about four months.

The district coordination officer (DCO) Capt (Rtd) Saqib Zafar told Dawn on Wednesday that the chief minister Punjab Mian Shehbaz Shairf has approved the special relief package of about Rs6 million on the demand of Sikh IDPs.

Under this package, Rs10,000 will be given to each family along with a dinner set and traveling bags, he explained.

He said that total about 3,000 Sikh IDPs (450 families) had been shifted at Gurdawara Punja Sahib, out of them, 350 families were registered after proper verification.

He said that as per Punjab government approval, financial assistance of Rs 10,000 would be given only to registered Sikh families, whereas dinner set and traveling bags would be given to the all Sikh families.

Moreover, the Punjab government had also provided free wheat flour (Atta) to the Sikh IDPs besides provision of relief goods to them time to time by the district administration, he maintained.

While Auqaf department with the coordination of NGOs, World Food Programme fulfilled their daily food requirement in proper way during their stay at the Gurdawara Punja Sahib, he maintained.

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