Introduction || APPENDIX (CH-4) || APPENDIX (CH-9) || ANNEXURE (CH-12) || APPENDIX (CH-14) || APPENDIX (CH-24) || APPENDIX (CH-29) || Conclusion
Chapter- 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16 || 17 || 18 || 19 || 20 || 21 || 22 || 23 || 24 || 25 || 26 || 27 || 28 || 29 || 30 || 31 || 32 || 33 || 34 || 35 || 36 || 37 || 38 || 39

Chapter 38:
REHABILITATION OF DISPLACED PERSONS

Within a few months of the Partition of the country in August, 1947 nearly 5 million Hindus and Sikhs living in West Pakistan had to leave their homes. Under somewhat different conditions I -5 million displaced persons migrated from East Pakistan. The disturbances in East Pakistan early in 1950 brought another million or so. According to the 1951 Census, about 7-5 million persons had moved into India in search of permanent homes, 4-9 million from West Pakistan and about 2-6 million lakhs from East Pakistan.

2. The displaced persons from West^Pakistan are dispersed over the Punjab, PEPSU, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Saurashtra, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Bharat, Ajmer, Bhopal and Rajasthan. They are more or less evenly divided as between urban and rural avocations.

3. Although 2 -6 million Hindus had moved into India from East Pakistan by the beginning of 1951, there are still seven or eight million Hindus living there. The influx continues ;

sometimes it slows down and sometimes, as during recent months, it assumes serious proportions. There are at present over 2 • I million displaced persons in West Bengal and of them, i -4 million are in Calcutta and the two neighbouring districts of Nadia and 24-Parganas. The economy of West Bengal has thus been subjected to very serious strain. It is estimated that 92 per cent. or about 2-4 million of these displaced persons derived their livelihood from agriculture or ancillary occupations.

RURAL REHABILITATION

4. In some States of India, namely the Punjab, PEPSU, Rajasthan and Delhi, large areas of agricultural land were left vacant by the Muslim evacuees. The Government of India utilised these lands and explored other avenues for rural rehabilitation of displaced persons from West Pakistan. Three distinct policies were followed :—

1. quasi-permanent allotment of evacuee agricultural land in the Punjab and PEPSU;
2. allotment of evacuee agricultural land on a temporary basis in other parts of India, especially the States of Delhi and Rajasthan;
3. settlement of culturable waste lands reclaimed by the various State Governments or the Central Tractor Organisation.

The first policy constituted the single largest measure of rehabilitation and was carried out in respect of displaced land-owners from West Punjab and of Punjabi extraction from other parts of West Pakistan. These persons had left behind 6-7 million acres, whereas the area abandoned by Muslim evacuees in the Punjab and PEPSU was 4-7 million acres, or in terms of 'standard acres' (into which differences in qualities of land and differences of rights were reduced) 3-9 and 2-4 million respectively. This gap of nearly 1-5 million 'standard acres' was madeup by applying graded cuts on a slab system. A cut of 25 per cent. was imposed on holdings upto 10 acres. Higher cuts were applied to the larger holdings and the highest cut was at the rate of 95 per cent. in the case of holdings over 1,000 acres. An owner of 10 'standard' acres received an allotment of 7^ acres, of 100 acres 51^ acres, of 500 acres 126^ acres, of 1000 acres 176^ acres and of 5000 acres 376^ acres. The allotment was on a quasi-permanent basis. In all, 2-4 million 'standard acres' were allotted to about half a million families. About 93 per cent. of the allotted area has been taken possession of by the allottees. The allotments of those who failed to take possession of their lands were cancelled and the lands so vacated were reallotted to displaced persons whose claims had not been met so far.

5. In addition to displaced persons who received quasi-permanent allotments of land, there were about 76,000 agriculturist families who had either been working as tenants of Muslim evacuees or had been settled temporarily on evacuee land immediately after the Partition although they had left no land as owners in West Pakistan. Over 33,000 of them have already been satisfactorily settled as tenants-at-will and through new tenancy legislation and otherwise the Punjab and PEPSU Governments have taken it upon themselves to see that the remaining tenant families are also absorbed within the rural economy.

6. The second and third policies were confined primarily to displaced agriculturists from West Pakistan who had lands outside West Punjab or were not of Punjabi origin. The area allotted to a family depended on its size. From 10 to 15 acres were allotted to each family in Alwar and Bharatpur, 16 to 24 acres of irrigated land and 16 to 32 acres ofunirrigated land in Bikaner, 5 to 10 acres in Delhi and 10 acres in the Ganga Khadar and the Naini Tal Tarai areas ofUttar Pradesh. In all, 57,500 families have been settled on 7-4 lakh acres. Of them as many as 44,000 families have been settled in Rajasthan alone, especially in the districts of Alwar, Bharatpur and Shri Ganganagar in Bikaner, all of which now form part of Rajasthan.

7. Early in 1951, allotments of land were offered to 12,645 families of non-Punjabi , displaced agriculturists. Of these only about 4,000 families actually moved to the land. It would appear that many of the families for whom allotments were proposed had found some means of livelihood in areas in which they were residing and were consequently unwilling to resettle on unirrigated land.

8. The vast majority of displaced agriculturists from West Pakistan may, therefore, be regarded as having been resettled. Upto the end of the year 1951-52, about Rs. 8 crores had been given as loans for the purchase of bullocks, fodder, seeds and other agricultural equipment, repair and construction of houses and wells, etc., and for the maintenance of families for the initial period of six months following allotment of land.

9. In respect of displaced persons from East Pakistan, it is estimated that about 330,000 out of 470,000 rural families have already been settled in the Eastern States on land and in occupations ancillary to agriculture. They have been so far given financial assistance exceeding Rs. 8 crores. It is proposed to settle 50,000 families during 1952-53 and 25,000 during 1953-54 in rural areas at a further expenditure ofRs. 10' 10 crores. But for the recent influx, the rural resettlement of displaced persons from East Pakistan would have been practically completed by the end of 1953-54.

URBAN RESETTLEMENT

10. The problem of urban resettlement has been one of great complexity, chiefly because of the essential differences in the economic pattern of the incoming and outgoing population. This difference has been the more marked in the case of displaced persons from West Pakistan. While the Muslim migrant from the Punjab, PEPSU, Delhi, etc., was often a labourer or an artisan, with a comparatively low standard of life, the incoming non-Muslim was frequently an industrialist, a businessman, a petty shopkeeper or one belonging to the white-collar professions and used to much better conditions of living. Secondly, as the urban economy in India, as in any other under-developed country, does not offer scope for quick expansion, the absorption of new elements on any scale presents considerable difficulty.

11. Accommodation was needed in urban areas for about 2-5 million displaced persons from West Pakistan. The Government embarked upon an extensive building programme and upto March, 1952, 150,000 houses and tenements had been built at a cost ofRs. 38 crores. It is proposed to build another 50,000 houses at a cost of about Rs. 21 crores in the course of the next two years. This programme, when completed, will have provided accommodation for about a million displaced persons. About i -5 million persons have already found accommodation in evacuee houses. Thus, making allowances for those families who have been able to make their own arrangements or who may do so in future, it may be said that the housing problem of the displaced persons from West Pakistan will have been substantially solved by the end of 1953-54.

12. While building activity on private account was promoted by granting building sites and building loans to displaced persons and cooperative societies who could find a part of the finance themselves, the bulk of the programme in the Western Zone has been undertaken departmentally by Government or through special agencies, such as the Faridabad, Rajpura and Hastinapur Development Boards and the Sindhu Resettlement Corporation. Most of the new housing colonies are in the form of suburban extensions of existing cities and towns and have been provided with urban amenities. In addition, 10 new townships have been planned and much progress has been made in their development. They are Faridabad, Nilokheri and Chandigarh in the Punjab, Rajpura and Tripuri in PEPSU, Sardamagar and Ulhasnagar in Bombay, Gandhidham in Kutch and Govindpuri and Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh. The construction of these towns is expected to be completed in the main by 1953-54. Together, they are likely to provide accommodation and gainful occupation to over 400,000 persons. The experiments at Nilokheri and Faridabad are significant in themselves. They are based on the principle of self-help on a cooperative basis. If successful, they will be a stepping stone for further planning and development on a national scale.

13. It is expected that no additional construction will be necessary for displaced persons from West Pakistan after 1953-54, but a sum of Rs. 4 crorcs will be required for completing the development schemes in hand and paying compensation for lands and barracks acquired for housing colonies or new townships.

14. In the Eastern States, on the other hand, emphasis was laid right from the beginning on private initiative and displaced persons were given developed plots and urban loans on a fairly large scale. The Government undertook only a limited building programme. However, up to the end of 1951-52, about 9,000 houses and tenements were built by the State Governments of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Orissa and two new townships have been established at Fulia and Habra Baigachi. As conditions in the Eastern States are still fluid it is difficult to estimate the total number of persons for whom housing will eventually have to be provided. Nevertheless, it is proposed to build 95,000 units, in the next two years, 25 per cent of which will be built directly by the Government and the rest by displaced persons with assistance from the Government. Uptil the end of March, 1952, the total financial outlay by the Government on housing in the Eastern States was Rs. 8 • 8 crores.

15. Gainful employment of displaced persons has been largely achieved by providing service under the Government and imparting technical and vocational training to those fit for it, by allotment and construction of business premises and industrial undertakings, by grant of loans for small as well as large-scale businesses and by grant of financial assistance for school and college education coverings arts, science and technical courses.

1. Employment—Upto the middle of 1952, the employment exchanges found employment for 1,63,000 displaced persons from West Pakistan and 31,000 from East Pakistan. In addition, the Ministry of Home Affairs set up a special Transfer Bureau for the same purpose and the Ministry of Railways also reserved 15,000 vacancies for displaced persons. It is estimated that over 80,000 persons thus received employment, although some of them had been sponsored by the employment exchanges as well and might have been shown in their returns also.
2. Technical and vocational training—A large proportion of displaced persons from towns had been occupied in distributive trades before migration and, therefore, it was felt necessary to train the younger generation among them for productive work. For that purpose arrangements were made to impart to them training in suitable vocations and crafts. The Rehabilitation Ministers' Conference in December 1950, recommended that 80,000 displaced persons should be trained. That target is being gradually achieved. By the end of March, 1952, about 52,000 persons had completed their training and 12,000 more are expected to be trained during the current financial year. It has not been possible to fix a similar target for displaced persons from East Pakistan because of the uncertainty of the situation. However, until the end of March, 1952, 8,000 displaced persons had been trained and it is hoped that 12,000 more will be trained during 1952-53. Targets for subsequent yeara have not vet been determined.
3. Education—Steps have^been[taken[to extend the educational facilities in the country by opening new schools and colleges and increasing the capacity of existing institutions. Under the new'policy introduced in July 1951, freeship concessions have been extended up to the high school standard and cash grants for books and stationery are given to deserving students. Stipends are also given to good students in colleges for training in arts, science and technical courses.

On vocational and technical training and on education of displaced persons from West Pakistan Rs. 7-39 crores had been spent up to.the end of march, 1952, and a further expenditure of Rs. 2-55 crores is proposed during 1952-53 and of Rs. 1-9 crores during 1953-54. The corresponding figures for displaced persons from East Pakistan are Rs. 4-05, 0-98 and l -56 crores respectively.

OTHER REHABILITATION MEASURES

16. The Government have also endeavoured to assist displaced artisans, business and professional men by granting them small loans upto Rs. 5,000 each. The amounts already advanced and proposed to be advanced in the next two years are shown below :

Altogether, 1,58,000 displaced persons from West Pakistan and 44,000 from East Pakistan had received loans upto the end of March, 1952, and it is estimated that about 15,300 and 11,500 families will receive loans in 1952-53 and 1953-54 respectively. Many of the displaced persons who have received loans from the Government have also filed claims under the Displaced Persons Claims Act, 1950, and most of such claims have already been verified. As-a prelude to the grant of such compensation as may be possible on the basis of these claims, it has been decided that the recovery of a loan from a borrower may be postponed up to one-tenth of the total value of his verified claim. To ensure better use of sums advanced by the Government, it has now been decided that hereafter such loans will be given only to displaced persons who have either received technical and vocational training under any of the schemes of the Government and wish to set up industry of their own or who have settled in the new townships.

17. For the larger businesses, loans are advanced to displaced persons by a special agency set up by the Government, namely, the Rehabilitation Finance Administration. Upto the 3ist March, 1952,-the Administration had sanctioned Rs. 8-25 crores in favour of 9,621 persons, of which Rs. 4.17 crores were actually disbursed. During 1952-53 the Administration expects to disburse Rs. 2-05 crores and during 1953-54 Rs. 3 crores.

18.'Financial assistance on this scale has helped'to bring back into activity about 27,000 evacuee shops and 2,000 evacuee industrial establishments which have been allotted to suitable displaced persons. Apart from this, 28,000 new shops and several new markets have been built in various towns. Industries are being developed in the new townships in order to provide further scope for employment and for individual enterprise.

19. There are 74,000 displaced persons—about 38,000 from West Pakistan and about 36,000 from East Pakistan—who are being looked after by the Government as a permanent measure. They consist of destitute, old and infirm persons and their dependents and unattached women and their children. The majority of them are being maintained and looked after in Homes or infirmaries specially established for them. It is proposed that eventually the Government will not, save in exceptional cases, look after and maintain anyone outside a Home or an Infirmary. In such Homes and Infirmaries work and training are provided to the old and infirm and to women according to their physical condition and aptitude. Education is given to the children. Some of the Homes have been entrusted to non-official organisations with a view to securing the largest measure of co-operation from the public. Wellknown institutions—the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, the Trust for Sindhi Women and Children, the Arya Pradeshak Pratinidhi Sabha, the Rama Krishna Mission and others—are assisting the Government in the field of rehabilitation. A Central Advisory Board has been set up to advise the Government on all matters pertaining to the well-being of displaced persons described in this paragraph.

20. There were numerous displaced persons who depended upon their income from immovable property in West Pakistan and who had no means of livelihood in India and who, at the same time, by reason of old age, infirmity and other causes were unable to make a living for themselves. It was decided, as a temporary measure, to grant them maintenance allowances according to a prescribed scale, subject to a maximum of Rs. ioo/- per month. Under this scheme, allowances are being given to 16,000 persons every month and so far Rs. 50 lakhs have been spent on such allowances. The scheme is likely to continue until such time as compensation is awarded to displaced persons for the immovable property they have left behind in West Pakistan.

21. A special Board has been set up for the rehabilitation of displaced Harijans and under the aegies of this Board employment has been found for about 8800 displaced Harijans and accommodation in urban areas to the extent of 1123 houses and tenements. The Board has also helped 16,259 Harijan families in the matter of allotment of land and rural loans and provided 2,403 huts in the rural areas.

EXPENDITURE ON REHABILITATION

22. Up to the 3ist March, 1952 the Government had incurred a total expenditure of Rs. 90-54 crores on the rehabilitation—as distinct from relief—of displaced persons. Rs. 27-81 crores are proposed to be spent during 1952-53 and Rs. 28-00 crores during 1953-54. The table below gives the rehabilitation expenditure during the three years from 1951-52 to 1953-54 :—

(Rupees crores)

23. It is hoped that the bulk of the problem of rehabilitation of displaced persons from West Pakistan will be over by the end of 1953-54. Besides meeting commitments already accepted, only a few outstanding matters will need attention. For this purpose Rs. 6-20 crores will be required as shown below :—

24. The situation in the Eastern States, on the other hand, fluctuates fitfully and it is not possible to forecast the likely expenditure on displaced persons from East Pakistan beyond 1953-54. If the conditions remain normal, the present scale of annual expenditure which is of the order of about Rs. n crores (this is approximately the average of the estimated expenditure for 1952-53 and 1953-54) will have to be maintained. If conditions in East Pakistan worsen, the magnitude of the problem and therefore of the effort, will be correspondingly greater.

COMPENSATION FOR DISPLACED PERSONS

25. There has been so far no agreement between India and Pakistan on the disposal of evacuee property in the two countries. Owing to the urgency of the problem of rehabilitation and the fact that evacuee properties, particularly in urban areas, tend to deteriorate, certain steps in the direction of giving a measure of compensation to displaced persons have been taken. The quasi-permanent allotment of land in the Punjab and Pepsu has already been described. In other parts of India, the problem of giving some kind of compensation for the agricultural l-Jinds left behind by land holders of Sind, N.-W. F. P., Bahawalpur and Baluchistan still remains to be tflckled. The problem of urban properties is more complicated. In framing any scheme for their distribution it is important not to cause any large-scale dislocation. A large proportion of displaced persons from West Pakistan have now established themselves in larger or smaller measure in places where they have been living and if they are dislocated they will have to be found a new habitation as also new means of livelihood. Many urban properties are in the occupation of displaced persons who have no claims to compensation. Tentative proposals for the disposal of evacuee properties and grant of compensation have been recently worked out, but final decisions have not yet been taken.

REHABILITATION AND DEVELOPMENT

26. The rehabilitation of7-5 million displaced persons presents numerous special problems but viewed broadly, it has to be regarded as an essential aspect of the development of the economy of the country as a whole. The expansion of the national economy by itself provides numerous opportunities for the rehabilitation of displaced persons possessing initiative and enterprise. The programme of rehabilitation is an integral part of the Five Year Plan, although it necessarily has to be kept under constant review, in particular, for meeting the exigencies of the changing situation in respect of displaced persons from East Pakistan.