Introduction
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 || Conclusion || Appendix

Chapter 30:
REHABILITATION OF DISPLACED PERSONS

After Partition the relief and rehabilitation of displaced persons from West and East Pakistan was a major national task. The first five year plan accorded a high priority to the rehabilitation of 8.53 million displaced persons. A total outlay of Rs. 136 crores was provided under the following heads:—

Displaced Persons From West Pakistan

2. By the end of the first plan nearly 2.3 million displaced persons from West Pakistan have been settled on land and their rehabilitation has been assisted with loans and grants. In urban areas, 1.2 million persons have been accommodated in evacuee houses and another million persons in 200,000 newly constructed tenements. To assist the rehabilitation of displaced persons in urban areas in small-scale business, industry and professions, loans upto Rs. 5,000 per family have been advanced by State Governments. Loans for larger undertakings have been advanced by the Rehabilitation Finance Administration. Vocational training centres have been established, about 75,000 persons have so far been trained in various occupations, and 6,000 are at present receiving training. Financial assistance has been provided to private educational institutions catering to the educational needs of displaced students. Stipends, freeships, grants and scholarships have been given to displaced students. Fourteen townships have been built to assist displaced persons in finding shelter and employment. In these, provision has been made for developing civic amenities like water-supply, drainage and electricity. In order to expand employment opportunities in townships, schemes have recently been approved for encouraging the establishment of industries with a measure of Government assistance. The industries so far started are estimated to give employment to 11,000 displaced persons both from East and West Pakistan. The Compens.ation Scheme for displaced persons from West Pakistan is now being implemented. Until this scheme has been carried out fully, the rehabilitation of these displaced persons will continue to require attention.

3. There has been a continuous influx of displaced persons from East Paksitan into West Bengal and neighbouring States. Out of 3.83 million persons who have so far migrated, about 388,000 families have been settled on land and other ancillary occupations. While bulk of this settlement has been in West Bengal, a fairly large number has been settled in Tripura, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. About 350,000 residential units have been constructed in rural and urban areas mainly by displaced persons with loans from the Government. About 22,000 displaced persons have been given vocational and technical training and 8,000 are now under training. Business loans have been advanced to about 88,000 families. The continuing influx of displaced persons has made the problem of rehabilitation in the eastern States particularly difficult. At present it is estimated that about 170,000 families require to be rehabilitated

Programmes In The Second Plan

4. Under the second five year plan, in addition to a provision ofRs. 4.5 crores for the payment of loans by the Rehabilitation Finance Administration, a sum of Rs. 85.5 crores has been provided for rehabilitation, the principal programmes being as follows:—

(Rs. in crores)

5. The larger part of the task of rehabilitating West Pakistan displaced persons was accomplished before the end of the first plan. Provision has, however, been made in the second plan for the completion of the housing schemes already approved and for mitigating unemployment in the townships and colonies of displaced persons through schemes for setting up industries. It was also- essential to continue the training and education schemes for displaced persons from West Pakistan.

6. The second five year plan provides Rs. 66.8 crores for the rehabilitation schemes for displaced persons from East Pakistan. It has been agreed that the financial provision for the rehabilitation of displaced persons from East Pakistan should be reviewed in the third year of the second plan in the light of the conditions then prevailing, provision of additional funds being made, if needed, at that stage.

7. Urban Joans.—A provision of Rs. 4.25 crores has been made for the grant of small loans to displaced persons from East Pakistan. On an average a family would get Rs. 2,250. The total number of families to be catered for under the scheme is about 19,000.

Upto the end of 1955-56, Rs. 14.58 crores will have been advanced by State Governments in the Western Zone under the small urban loans scheme. It is felt that help in the shape of loans will still be necessary in the case of displaced persons from West Pakistan though in a comparatively small number of cases. A provision ofRs. 1.47 crores has, therefore, been made for the grant of small loans to these displaced persons during the second plan period, the amounts to be advanced diminishing year after year.

8. Rural loans.—A provision ofRs. 14.44 crores has been made for grant of loans to displaced persons from East Pakistan for settlement on land and ancillary occupations in rural areas during the second plan. The average loan for an agricultural family would be Rs. 2,450 and for a non-agricultural family the loan would vary from Rs. 1,525 to Rs. 2,275. Approximately 70,000 families will be given assistance under the scheme.

Settlement of this class of displaced persons from West Pakistan has almost been completed and a small provision ofRs. 16.4 lakhs only has been made in the first two years of the second plan. The average loan per family aggregates to approximately Rs. 1,150. About 1,400 families will be benefited.

9. Development of agricultural land.—As evacuee lands were available for the resettlement of displaced agriculturists from West Pakistan, rural rehabilitation in Punjab ahd PEPSU could proceed fairly readily, although the area available was substantially smaller than that abandoned in West Pakistan.

Scarcity of suitable land in West Bengal and the initial disinclination of displaced persons to settle in States other than West Bengal have delayed the rehabilitation of displaced agriculturist families from East Pakistan. Since it is difficult for West Bengal to take many more displaced persons, efforts are being made to find land outside that State. In May 1955 the National Development Council urged upon all States to assist in the rehabilitation of displaced persons from East Pakistan by locating suitable areas in which they could settle in sizeable groups.

10. The total area offered by the States of Andhra, Bihar, Orissa, Hyderabad, Madhya Prdesh, Mysore, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Vindhya Pradesh is 289,300 acres. Technical teams have so far visited Hyderabad, Mysore, Rajasthan and Vindhya Pradesh and have selected areas extending to 23,950 acres. The Ministry of Rehabilitation have made a preliminary selection of 14,000 acres of land offered by Bihar. According to preliminary reports of the Central Tractor Organisation, there is also a possibility of reclaiming 80,000 acres of land in Tripura and about 6,000 acres in Cachar. A Conference of the Rehabilitation Ministers of States in the eastern region as well as of those States who offered land for resettlement was held at Calcutta early in 1956, to consider how lands offered by these States could be best utilised and what other measures should be taken. It was felt that the agricultural income of displaced persons would have to be supplemented through the development of small-scale and cottage industries and that rehabilitation schemes should as far as possible, be integrated with the development projects of each State. A provision of Rs. 4.80 crores has been made in the second plan for the acquisition and development of approximately 100,000 acres df land in various States.

11. Housing.—A provision of Rs. 5.78 crores has been'made in the second plan for housing schemes for displaced persons from West Pakistan. Funds have been provided for the completion of housing schemes carried over from 1955-56 and for the development of refugee colonies and townships to standards prevailing in neighbouring areas, as without such developments local, bodies hesitate to take them over for permanent administration.

A provision of Rs. 18.68 crores has been made for the housing schemes in the eastern region. Of this, Rs. 9.25 crores will be utilised for the construction of houses. It is proposed to advance housing loans to about 13,000 displaced families at the average rate ofRs. 2500/-, per family and to undertake direct construc'tion of about 12,000 units at an average cost of Rs. 5,000/- per unit. The remaining amount of Rs. 9.43 crones is meant for the development of existing colonies and for granting assistance to municipalities, local bodies etc, for providing civic amenities to displaced persons resettled under their jurisdiction. Development schemes are being formulated according to the recommendations made by an expert committee set up for the purpose in West Bengal.

12. Medium, small-scale and cottage industries.— During 1954-55 and 1955-56, a provision of Rs. 1.75 crores was made for setting up industries in townships and colonies for displaced persons. It was agreed to promote the setting up of medium industries by giving certain facilities to private industrialists, namely, (1) allotment of land and building for factories on a rental basis for periods varying from 7 to 10 years with option to purchase during the period of lease, (2) grant of loan upto 50 per cent of the value of the machinery installed, and (3) supply of water and electricity at rates comparable to those prevailing'in the neighbouring industrial areas. Upto the end of December, 1955, 36 schemes had been sanctioned in the eastern and western regions, involving a total investment of about Rs. 2.65 crores on the part of Government These schemes are expected to provide employment to about 11,000 displaced persons.

During the second five year plan period, a provision of Rs. 11.22 crores has been made for the promotion of medium, small-scale and cottage industries in townships/colonies for displaced persons in the eastern and western regions and at other places having high concentrations of displaced persons. It is expected that employment will be provided for additional 50,000 displaced persons. Arrangements have been made for the proper co-ordination of these industrial schemes with other programmes of industrial development.

13. Education.—Under ihis programme displaced students are helped in the prosecution of their studies through freeships, scholarships, stipends and grants. A number of schools are being run by Government for the special benefit of displaced students. Private educational institutions are also being given financial assistance lor undertciking (lie education of displaced students. The provision for displaced students from East Pakistan on this account for the second plan is Rs. 10.96 crores.

In the western region, besides financial assistance in the shape of exemption from tuition fees, grants for purchase of books and stipends, financial assistance has been provided for the construction of buildings and purchase of equipment to private educational institutions—both for those which were disrupted by Partition as well as others—which cater for the educational needs of displaced students. The total amount of grants given to such institutions by the end of the first plan was about Rs. 70 lakhs. It is proposed to continue grants-in-aid to such institutions (including the Punjab University) during the second plan. A provision of Rs. 3.74 crores has been made in the second plan for expenditure on the education of displaced students from West Pakistan.

For the benefit specially of displaced children but equally as a pilot scheme for more general application, a scheme forphysici training and training in discipline was introduced in July, 1954. It is proposed to extend the scheme to a larger number of institutions both in the western and eastern zones during the second five year plan.

14. Vocational and technical training: A large proportion of urban displaced persons consisted of traders, businessmen and shopkeepers, but the scope for their absorption in India in similar occupations was limited. An extensive programme particularly for training young displaced persons in different vocations and crafts with a view to converting them into skilled artisans capable of earning their own livelihood was therefore undertaken.

A Technical Training Committee was set up to examine the working of the existing training centres, work centres and production centres, including those under the Directorate General of Resettlement and Employment, and others in the eastern zones, and to make recommendations for the reorganisation of these centres and to formulate new schemes with a view to providing gainful employment to displaced persons. The Committee's report has been received and is under consideration.

It is proposed to train about 80,000 displaced persons during the second plan period; about 30,000 in the western zone and 50,000 in the eastern zone. A sum of Rs. 1.92 crores has been provided in the second plan for expenditure on the training of displaced persons from West Pakistan and Rs. 5.25 crores for displaced persons from East Pakistan, i

15. Medical facilities: So far expenditure on medical facilities was mostly confined to giving relief assistance to displaced T.B. patients. The number of beds reserved for displaced persons in T.B. sanatoria and hospitals has been raised to 500 in the States in the eas tern region in view of the high incidence of T.B. among displaced persons. It has also been agreed to provide free medicines and maintenance allowances to displaced T.B. patients awaiting admission to hospitals and for three months after they are discharged. The limit of maintenance allowance has been raised from Rs. 50 to Rs. 65 a month and proposals have been invited from State Governments for increasing the number of segregation wards, providing additional facilities for domiciliary treatment and X-ray examination and for setting up colonies for discharged T.B. patients.

It is proposed to provide adequate medical facilities to displaced persons who have been or will be settled in different townships and colonies in the eastern zone. As existing facilities are inadequate, new hospitals will be opened in urban areas and new dispensaries-cum-matemity centres in rural areas specially for the benefit of displaced persons. It is also proposed to increase the number of beds for displaced persons in T.B. hospitals and sanatoria suffering from T.B. thus raising the total number of beds to 1000. A total provision ofRs. 2.82 crores has been made in the second plan for expenditure on schemes for extending medical facilities.

16. The broad pattern which rehabilitation programmes will follow during the second plan has been explained above. Increasingly, rehabilitation programmes are being coordinated with general programmes of economic and social development. Problems of rehabilitation of displaced persons from West Pakistan have become to a large extent part of the overall problems of economic development in States in which they have been resettled in large numbers. The situation in respect of displaced persons from East Pakistan requires that the various programmes should be reviewed from time to time so that they can be modified or strengthened as circumstances may demand.