The Jammu and Kashmir government has said that 6,000 transit homes will be built for Kashmiri Pandits, who were displaced by the violence in the 1990s and are willing to return to work in the Valley, PTI reported on Tuesday. The state government has identified 100 acres of land in eight locations in 10 districts to accommodate them. Young applicants from registered exiled families will be given government jobs as part of the prime minister’s resettlement programme.

Responding to a question posed by Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Rajesh Gupta in the state Assembly, the government said 1,700 candidates had been selected under the special employment scheme, while 4,300 of the 6,000 vacancies have yet to be filled, NDTV reported.

A few applicants have been allotted accommodation at facilities in Budgam and Qazigund, but residents have alleged poor infrastructure at the locations. Officials said land had been selected under a central grant of Rs 1,618.4 crore, which was sanctioned in 2008-2009. Central government funds will also be used to revive agricultural and horticultural land and provide scholarships for school students.

According to government figures, 37,347 Hindu families, 2,257 Muslim families and 1,758 Sikh families had migrated from Kashmir after the violence in the 1990s. The National Democratic Alliance government had announced a Rs 500-crore package to rehabilitate the exiled Kashmiri Pandits in 2014. The Omar Abdullah government, which was in power at the time, had said that the settlements could be an easy target for militants and cited the Model Code of Conduct in effect at the time for not starting work on the programme immediately.

The subject of the Kashmiri Pandits’ return has gained significance in recent months. These developments come after the Kashmir government passed a unanimous resolution on January 19 for the return of all migrants who had moved out of the state in the past 27 years.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had drawn flak in May 2016 for comparing the displaced Kashmiris to pigeons whom she suggested would be set upon by cats if they were brought back to the conflict-ridden state. Mufti had said that the government would provide transit accommodation to the returning migrants until it was safe for them to go back to their original localities.