The Union government owes an outstanding due of Rs 24.5 crore as rent to various land owners in Jammu and Kashmir, the Defence Ministry has informed the Parliament.
The outstanding dues are only for land hired by the DefenceMinistry for its various wings, departments and organisations in 22 districtsof Jammu and Kashmir. The ministry has 56,615.54 acres of land under itspossession on rent in Jammu and Kashmir. The properties have been hired by theministry either from private landowners or from the state government.
The information was submitted through a written reply toParliament on Wednesday by Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Defence ShripadNaik.
Through the reply, Naik provided a breakdown of respectiveparcels of land in different districts of the state that have been obtained onrent by the defence forces. A maximum of 18,935.47 acres of land have beentaken on rent in Jammu district. Srinagar comes a distant second with 3757.84acres of land on rent with the ministry.
The outstanding rent is highest in Jammu district where thefigure stands at Rs 7,65,20,330. The Army owes an amount of Rs 4,29,24,912 tovarious land owners in Rajouri district. Land owners in Baramulla district whohave rented out their properties to the defence forces stand to get Rs2,79,84,257 from the ministry.In the last three years, the ministry hascleared payments of a cumulative amount of Rs 134.45 crore against land takenon rent.