Amid allegations of some Kashmir-centric mainstream and separatist groups regarding the allocation of land to non-locals under Prime Minister's Awas Yojna (PMAY), Lieutenant Governor of J&K Manoj Sinha on Monday said that those involved in launching such malicious and false campaigns were responsible for the killings of over 50,000 innocent people in this part of the country.
Addressing the inaugural session of the three-day national workshop on Panchayat with Good Governance at Srinagar, the Lieutenant Governor asked elected Panchayat members to give the name of a single non-local who has been allotted land under the PMAY in their respective area.
"All Panchs, Sarpanchs, Block Development Councils (BDCs), and District Development Councils (DDCs) of Jammu and Kashmir are gathered here. I ask them to single out any case where land or home is provided to non-J&K residents under PMAY", he asserted.
He, however, added a malicious and false campaign was launched only to create unrest among people because the street violence in Kashmir Valley was an industry for some influential persons. Some people find it difficult to digest peace in J&K
Without naming any group, the Lieutenant Governor said that those opposing homes and land to the landless people were responsible for the killings of 50,000 innocent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
"Such forces can't digest peace because unrest and violence suit their petty political and personal interests", he said and added that such people were provoking people to promote street violence. "These people are responsible for the killing of 40,000 to 50,000 innocents in J&K," the LG said.
Omar, Mehbooba, separatist leaders oppose land to landless people
As reported earlier, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, and some separatist leaders have opposed the decision of the UT administration to give land to the landless people in Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar Abdullah questioned the administration regarding the "Land for Landless" issue in Jammu and Kashmir. He urged them to clarify who exactly is considered homeless in J&K and how they are being categorized.
Mehbooba Mufti has accused the UT administration of bringing the people from outside under the garb of land for the landless and home for the homeless to change the region's demography. She alleged that after the abrogation of Article 370, the administration considers the jobs, water resources, and land of the people of J&K as "war booty".
Mufti said that the administration was importing slums and poverty into the region under the pretext of providing housing to homeless individuals, which she believes is an attempt to alter the demographic composition of Jammu & Kashmir.
Hurriyat Conference has stated that 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.
In a landmark decision, the Jammu Kashmir Government approved a proposal for the allotment of five Marlas of land each to landless PMAY (G) beneficiaries in July this year.
The decision was taken by the Administrative Council headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. The present allotment is restricted to only the left out cases of the Permanent waiting list (PWL) 2018-19, which may later, at the time of the launch of the next phase of the PMAY(G) scheme in 2024-25 be extended to the same categories of landless beneficiaries, who otherwise become eligible for getting housing assistance under PMAY(G) Phase-III.
