Srinagar, Oct 10: Revealing that 14 lakh kanals of State land was under encroachment in J&K, the government Wednesday said it has no mechanism to check how many kanals of State land were under the illegal possession of politicians, IAS and KAS officers.
Replying to a query raised by PDP legislator Chaudhary Zulfikar Ali, Minister for Revenue Raman Bhalla said, “There are 14 lakh kanals of State land under the illegal encroachment of which 10 lakh kanals are in Jammu and four lakh kanals in Kashmir. But it is not known how many politicians, IAS and KAS officers were holding the land illegally.”
He, however, said the government will try to work out the exact details of land grabbers as the process was difficult.
“Those holding the land illegally are applying for ownership rights,” Bhalla said. He said the government was mulling to amend the Land Encroachment Act to prevent illegal possession of land.
Criticizing the government for not having the record as to who holds the possession of land illegally in the State, Chaudhary Zulfikar Ali said the matter be referred to a House Committee.
“Let House Committee study the issue and prepare a report,” he suggested.
Taking note of the PDP MLA’s concern, Speaker Muhammad Akbar Lone asked the PDP legislator to come up with the cases to set a base for taking action against the illegal encroachers.
However, the PDP member refused to accept the Speaker’s advice. “Since the land belongs to the State, how can I come up with the cases,” he said.
The Revenue Minister said so far two lakh applications have been received from the people who want the ownership rights of the State land under them. “The process of claiming the ownership is showing a spurt over the past few years,” the Minister said.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 10 Oct 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:00:00 IST