Jammu, Feb 20: The Mufti Government has provided financial assistance to nearly 5,000 people affected by militancy in Jammu and Kashmir since it came to power in October 2002. The state's Militancy Rehabilitation Council has granted pensions to widows, the aged and the handicapped and scholarships to orphan students worth Rs 1.87 crore has been issued to some 4,838 militancy victims, Minister for Social Welfare told the state assembly, in a written reply to Abdul Ghani Malik of the National Conference.

The scholarships granted to school-going orphans came from the National Foundation of Communal Harmony, an autonomous body under the Minister of Home Affairs, he said.

Some 1076 students in 2003 and another 1725 students in 2004 have been provided scholarships -- worth Rs 650 per month for every child in Srinagar and Rs 600 for those in other parts of the state. The rehabilitation council also organised 15 camps in association with the Composite Regional Centre for Persons with Disabilities.

At these camps, artificial aids, limbs and appliances have been provided to these children who have been handicapped as a result of militancy violence, the minister said. Bureau Report