Mehbooba, Omar, and Sajad Unite: Seek clarity from J&K LG on ‘Land for Landless’ Scheme

A day after People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti questioned the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s decision to provide five marlas of land to landless people under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), other political parties in the Valley also questioned the move and sought clarity from the L-G administration regarding the beneficiaries.

National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said, “The government should clarify who they are counting among the homeless. Are those people that have come here even a week back also among the homeless? Is there a cut-off date?”

Stating that people who have come to Jammu and Kashmir after 2019 “should not be included in these lists”, Omar said, “After 2019, they (the government) have tried to settle many people here. If the intent is to provide land to such individuals, this will of course create doubt in our minds. The government should first make it clear how they are counting the homeless.”

People’s Conference president Sajad Lone emphasised the need for the government to clarify the eligibility criteria for the ‘Land for Landless’ scheme and restrict land allocation solely to the erstwhile state subjects of Jammu and Kashmir “without including any new domicile holders after August 5, 2019.” Lone urged the administration to provide a clear and unequivocal clarification on the issue.

“Now that questions are being raised. It will be prudent for the state administration to make it clear whether providing land to the landless and homeless, comprises of only the erstwhile domicile holders pre – 5 August 2019. Per se, if lists have been framed prior to 2019, as asserted by the rural development department, the list will not comprise of any newcomers. Clarification is a must,” he said.

Lone also stated that it is crucial to uphold the rights of the erstwhile state subjects of Jammu and Kashmir when allocating land to the landless and homeless. “To protect the interests of the local population, the government must clearly specify that no new domicile holders after August 5, 2019, should be included in the land allocation process”, he added.

Meanwhile, after the J&K administration issued a clarification, late on Wednesday night, PDP expressed dismay at the lingering lack of transparency in the process. In a statement, the party said, “the main question of a sharp jump in numbers of homeless ‘people’ from 19,047 in 2021 to nearly two lakh ‘households’ remains unaddressed. PMAY has been in operation for decades in the state under different titles and a procedure has been in place which always was monitored by GOI itself from identification to the execution levels.”

The administration had stated that the government conducted an Awaas+ survey during January 2018 to March 2019 to identify beneficiaries who claimed to have been left out under the 2011 Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC).

Terming the allegations false, the administration said, “The data of beneficiaries captured through Awaas+ was utilised to fill the gaps between overall target and eligible beneficiaries made available from SECC Permanent Wait List (PWL) PMAY PHASE-II(AWAS Plus) Grameen started from 2019 onwards based on survey of 2018-19, done pan India, in which 2.65 lakh houseless cases were recorded in J&K and only target of 63,426 houses was given to J&K”.