46,000 kanal state land acquired for infrastructure development in 3 years

Srinagar, Sep 23: In the past three years, the Jammu and Kashmir government has acquired 46,000 kanal state land to build infrastructure and construct public utilities in the union territory.

According to the information from the J&K government, during the years 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-2022, the government acquired state land (including Khalsa Sarkar, Kahchrie, and Shamilat) measuring 2359.45 hectares (46,000 kanal) for a variety of public uses including roads, National Highways, railways, schools and colleges, playgrounds, parks, buildings, soil waste management, border fencing, and border outposts, and industrial estates.

   

Earlier, the J&K government gave district collectors instructions to give state and common land precedence and priority while acquiring land for any public use.

The Financial Commissioner of Revenue has instructed district collectors to ensure that the state land and common land that were available in the district and could be useful for public purposes be given precedence and priority before beginning the process for the acquisition of proprietary land.

The decree states that the district collector should provide a certificate stating that no public purpose-serving state, government, or common land was available.

Additionally, the district collectors are required to communicate with the indenting department, verify that field visits are conducted at the proper level, and, if the indenting departments insist on acquiring proprietary land, record their independent opinion while presenting the case.

The FCR’s order states that these instructions should be followed in all matters involving land acquisition in J&K.

The government issued the decision after noticing that district collectors were handling cases of proprietary land acquisition for various departments following their indents. The J&K government has also retrieved 26,964 kanal land from beneficiaries which were transferred under the Roshni Act 2001.

In response to a question in the Parliament, the Minister of State Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai stated that a total of state land measuring 8565.40 hectares was transferred under the Roshni Act 2001 to individuals, institutions, and entrepreneurs.

“In compliance with the judgment dated October 9, 2020, of the High Court of J&K, the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and Divisional Commissioner Jammu have uploaded the details of beneficiaries and encroachers on their official websites,” the minister said. “The mutations attested in favour of beneficiaries under this act have been cancelled and entries in the revenue record have been expunged. The land measuring 1363.95 hectares (26,964 kanal) has been retrieved.”

The minister said that more than 70 review petitions had been filed in the Supreme Court and High Court of J&K.

“The J&K government has also filed a review petition in the J&K High Court against this order and the matter is sub judice,” he said.

According to the High Court order, a total of 6,04,602 kanal (75,575 acres) of state land had been regularised and transferred to the occupants.

This included 5,71,210 kanal (71,401 acres) in Jammu and 33,392 kanal (4174 acres) in Kashmir province.

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