Some think only they possess right to build houses on govt land: Sinha over criticism of PMAY scheme

Srinagar, Jul 7 (PTI) Some people are upset by the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s decision to allot land to homeless families as they think only they possess the right over government properties, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Friday.

His comment came amidst criticism of the recent scheme to provide 150 sq yards of land to homeless people in the union territory.

“Some days back, the J-K administration decided that those without land will be eligible for PMAY and provided land. There is a policy in other states that they can be given land, but, there was no such policy in J-K. We decided to provide five ‘marlas’ or 150 sq yards of land to them,” he said while addressing the National Tribal Festival at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) here.

The land is being provided under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY). So far 2,711 poor people have been given land so that they can build houses for themselves, he said.

“But, it has caused pain to some people. Those who have built their houses, and their relatives’ houses on government land, feel only they have the right to the government property and poor people should be stopped from using the government property.

“They should know that such an arrangement has ended. The system of discrimination ended on August 5, 2019, and it is the administration and the PM’s resolve that poor people of the country and J-K, Dalits and Adivasis, should have the first right on government resources. They have to understand this,” the LG said.

Political parties in the Kashmir valley have raised concerns over the policy and asked the administration to come clean on the categorisation of the landless people.

Hurriyat Conference on Friday said the land-for-landless policy announced by the Jammu and Kashmir LG has raised “serious doubts and concerns” among the people, and demanded the administration come clean on the issue.

“The announcement made by state authorities to give land to 1.99 lakh ‘homeless people’ in Jammu and Kashmir has raised serious doubts and concerns among people. The identity of these ‘homeless people’ and the intentions behind this move are suspect as there are glaring discrepancies and an opaqueness about the whole matter,” it said in a statement here.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehboba Mufti on Wednesday accused the Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor’s administration of importing slums and poverty into the erstwhile state under the pretext of providing housing to homeless people, calling it an attempt to change the demography of the union territory.

“The LG made an announcement about giving land to 1.99 lakh landless people in JK. Doubts and concerns have come to the fore as to who these landless people in Jammu and Kashmir are. According to the figures of the central government placed before Parliament, there are only 19,000 homeless families in Jammu and Kashmir,” she told reporters.