2 months ago
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The J&K Assembly connected Wednesday (April 1, 2026) admitted a Bill aimed astatine reversing the amendments made to the Land Grants Act 1960 by the Lieutenant Governor successful 2022, which posed a menace of imperishable eviction of section lease holders from authorities onshore and hotels crossed the region, particularly successful tourer places of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Patnitop.
As the Bill came up earlier the House, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, “The Government would similar the House to deliberate connected the substance successful detail. After that, the Government volition instrumentality a determination connected whether to enactment this Bill oregon not. Therefore, astatine this stage, I volition not reason its introduction.”
The Bill was subsequently allowed to beryllium introduced done a dependable vote. Ruling National Conference (NC) legislator Tanvir Ali Sadiq had introduced the Bill, titled J&K Land Grants (Restoration and Protection) Bill, 2025, arsenic a backstage subordinate bill. It aims to reconstruct the rules framed successful 1960 nether Land Grants Act to the archetypal form, “as it existed anterior to the J&K Land Grants Act, 2022”, which was introduced by the LG.
“It volition springiness a ineligible sanctity to those who are legally occupying lease onshore successful J&K, whether helium is from Kashmir’s Gulmarg and Pahalgam or Jammu’s Patnitop oregon Reasi. Any auctioning nether amended rules would person allowed the outsiders to enactment successful it. Compared to locals, outsiders would person much purchasing powers,” Mr. Sadiq told The Hindu.
During the dependable vote, the Bill did not look immoderate large absorption from the Opposition benches.
Under the rules introduced by the L-G successful 2022, those occupants whose leases person ended were not renewed but were scheduled to enactment for a caller auction. It besides allowed the outsiders to enactment successful the auction for the archetypal clip successful J&K. The eviction nether the LG-introduced rules successful 2022 was apt to interaction fashionable tourer destinations of Srinagar, Jammu, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Patnitop etc. successful J&K, wherever astir hotels are built connected lease onshore since the 1970s and 1980s.
Speaking extracurricular the Assembly, J&K Peoples Conference (JKPC) legislator Sajad Lone termed the Bill arsenic 1 that “primarily benefits the ace elite while ignoring the poor”.
“The Bill pertains to immoderate of the costliest existent property successful Kashmir. It is aimed to assistance the ace elite. The onshore progressive could beryllium worthy tens of thousands of crores. What is successful it for the poorest of the poor? Lakhs of families surviving connected 2 oregon 3 marlas of onshore proceed to look harassment. Don’t they merit a bill?” said Mr. Lone.
BJP legislator and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma besides criticised the Bill. “It’s profoundly unfortunate and amounted to a betrayal of trust. The mandate fixed by the radical appears to beryllium utilized not for nationalist bully but to support a privileged few. The projected authorities could pave the mode for releasing ample tracts of authorities onshore astatine debased rates,” said Mr. Sharma. He said the authorities was patronising a prime radical of influential radical alternatively of safeguarding nationalist assets.
Another BJP legislator, Ranbir Singh Pathania, said, “The Bill strikes astatine the precise halfway of the post-reorganisation ineligible bid successful the Union Territory. It is an effort to reopen a model that had been conclusively settled by Parliament done the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. The parliamentary supremacy cannot beryllium diluted by a Private Member’s Bill seeking to unsettle an existing statutory regime.
Meanwhile, the J&K Assembly besides admitted different Bill introduced by NC legislator Sajad Shaheen connected constitution of a assemblage field astatine Banihal successful District Ramban “to beforehand higher education, research, and socio-economic improvement successful the region”.
