The Jammu and Kashmir administration headed by governor Satya Pal Malik has come up with a plan to tackle the growing problem of militant attacks on police personnel visiting their families: a home away from home.
The Malik-led state administrative council has given in-principle approval to a proposal to construct residential flats for 20,000 families of police personnel in six districts.
An official spokesperson said the state’s home department had submitted the plan that involves construction of 10,000 flats each in Kashmir and Jammu divisions.
The spokesperson said it would be “a huge welfare measure for the police personnel” and gave no indication that militant attacks on the cops may have led to the proposal. The objective, he said, is to create affordable housing facilities for various categories of police personnel. “In this way the long-pending housing needs of police personnel will be met.”
But the proposal came amid growing attacks on cops vacationing at their homes. The latest victim was a young CID sub-inspector, Imtiyaz Hussain, who was killed on October 28 while on his way home to south Kashmir.
Official sources said the police colonies would enjoy foolproof security. “There was a growing clamour for such colonies,” a source said.
A police spokesperson said the flats would be allotted on a “self-financing basis” but the government would provide the land on “nominal charges”. He said a survey would be conducted to determine the demand for such flats. “This (survey) will be completed by December 1,” he said.