The Jammu and Kashmir administration today listed former Congress Minister, Taj Mohiuddin and former minister of state Ghulam Hassan Khan among persons who have allegedly encroached upon the state land.
According to the list uploaded on Divisional Commissioner’s official website of state land encroachers – other than Roshni— in Shopian district, the administration has named former minister, Taj Mohiuddin to have “encroached 15.16 kanals of state land as per the report submitted by the committee comprising the Forest Department, Revenue and Act dated 11-09-2020.”
The administration in its list of state land encroachers has named Muma S/o Ahad Mir who is father of EX-MLA Wachi Muhammad Jabar Mir and grandfather of Ex-MLA Wachi, Ajaz Ahmad Mir.
The official list also reveals that ex-Minister of State, Social Welfare Department, Ghulam Hassan Khan has constructed four shops on the “encroached state land”.
Apart from the state land encroachers, the administration has also named 508 beneficiaries of Roshni scheme in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Majority of the beneficiaries identified from Baramulla are government employees either current or retired and farmers.
On November 1, the Union Territory administration cancelled all land transfers that took place under the JK State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001 – also known as the Roshni Act – under which 2.5 lakh acres of land was to be transferred to the existing occupants.
The authorities concerned have been asked to work out a plan to retrieve large tracts of state land vested under the Act.
It is pertinent to mention that administration apart from naming beneficiaries of scrapped Roshni scheme is also revealing the identities of influential persons who have encroached state and forest land in the Union territory of J&K.