J&K govt. to ‘consolidate land data, frame policy for poor’ before resuming anti-encroachment drive

The administration’s drive was against locals occupying government land illegally in the Union Territory

The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor’s administration has decided to “consolidate data” of the 49-day eviction drive and “frame a policy” before resuming the anti-encroachment drive against locals occupying government land illegally in the Union Territory (UT).

An revenue official confirmed to  The Hindu that there were no fresh orders to evict occupiers or retrieve different categories of land from locals, including ‘State’ land, ‘Kahcharai’ or community land, Roshini Act land, which was bought by lease holders from the previous regime but the scheme was nullified by the present dispensation.

Five days ago,  The Hindu had reported that the Union Home Ministry had intervened and halted the drive, while stressing on following legal procedures before using bulldozers against the occupiers. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi also raised the issue in New Delhi. 

One estimate suggested that over two lakh ‘kanals’ (24999.9974 acres) of land has been retrieved from locals so far, including a few politicians from the National Conference, the Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Peoples Conference.

The L-G administration has hinted at evolving a policy for poor and landless locals, who are at present occupying land in the UT. However, many locals claimed during the drive that they were occupying the land for several generations and had turned large tracts of unproductive land productive by virtue of farming but “were evicted”. 

The drive, which saw bulldozers also removing shelters and structures of poor and several shopkeepers, not only attracted criticism from local political parties but also from The Resistance Front (TRF) militant outfit, which warned of attacks on officials of the Revenue Department.

L-G Manoj Sinha clarified in his recent speeches that no poor or landless would be affected except for the influential land grabbers and those who misused their positions. He had asked the Forest Department to carry out geographic information system mapping and ground-based digitisation “to effectively tackle the challenge of encroachment”.