The Jammu and Kashmir State Administrative Council on Wednesday gave the nod for the construction of 20,000 apartments for police personnel. The decision shows that the Centre acknowledges that the fight against militancy can't be won without the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The apartments will be allotted to the state police officials on a self-financing basis.
The housing proposal for the Jammu and Kashmir Police was submitted by the home department, which was then approved by the State Accountability Council under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday.
An official spokesman said the proposal envisaged construction of 10,000 apartments each in Kashmir and Jammu at one or two places subject to the availability of land. The apartments would be in multi-storey buildings and would come in 2-BHK (800-1,000sqft), 3-BHK (1,200sqft) and 4-BHK (1,500sqft) options.
The land for the construction of apartments will be provided by the government and the project will be completed in two years.
“The government will facilitate the provision of loans from Jammu and Kashmir Bank and other banks if required. A demand survey will be conducted by the director general of police to determine the exact demand for flats. This will be completed by December 1,” a spokesman said. The spokesman added, ''The construction of 20,000 houses will be a huge welfare measure for the police personnel.”
The construction of residential colonies for the Jammu and Kashmir Police had gained pace due to frequent targeting of policemen and their families by militants. This year, 36 police personnel have been killed till date by militants, with most of the incidents occurring in south Kashmir's Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian.
The targeted policemen, some of whom were shot dead after being abducted from their homes, include the lowly paid and lightly armed and trained special police officers (SPOs). There are around 30,000 SPOs in Jammu and Kashmir. Some quit the job due to threats from militants.
The militants also kidnapped 12 kin of policemen in south Kashmir in retaliation to the raids on their homes by the police in August.
