By Daya Sagar
Under the Roshni Scheme { Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act, 2001 amended upto date (commonly known as Roshni scheme) } the allotments could be classified in four categories:
1. Those urban/ rural occupants who had been given lands/ plots on lease (may be 20 Yrs, 40 Yrs, 60Yrs) for residential purposes as far back as 1950s/ 1960s. They had their houses in place, lease valid or lease formally to be further renewed termed as authorised overstayed occupants with no eviction notices served to them. It is not out of place to mention here that there may be many cases pertaining to JK Housing Board / JDA /SDA in Jammu / Srinagar where plots were allotted on 20yr / 40r lease and the lease has not yet been formally renewed. If I am not wrong as per JK Housing Board rules / norms in case lease is to be converted to Free hold the extra cost to be paid by a ChanniHimmat allottee is around Rs.1.40 to Rs.1.50 lakh per Kanal and I do not think Auditors at any time have raised question on that where as the ‘base price’ fixed by the Price Fixation Committee (Roshni) for the residential leased plots to be converted into ownership plots was in many cases as high as Rs 60 to 80 Lac per kanal and price to be charged after concession was/is atleast Rs.15-20 Lac per Kanal (with provision of interest for delay) from the allottee in case he/she makes a down payment. There have been cases where the residential Allottee have objected to alleging “such high” cost fixations and have either gone to courts or have not made payments against the allotment advice received by them from the concerned Tehsildar / DC contesting that the price / cost to be paid by regular lease residential plots / lands should not be more than what JDA /SDA/JKHB charge for their “Lessees” for converting lease to free hold. This could also be the reason for lesser realisation even against the cases that have been finalised since some people might not have paid under protest.The CAG report has also observed that only Rs 76.24 crore (24 per cent) was reportedly realized against a demand of Rs 317.54 crore raised by the end of March 2013 in the actual transfer of 3,48,160 kanals in the state and surely the payments not so far made under protests by some earlier residential urban lease holders could also be the reason for short fall in realisation of demand invoices sent by revenue authorities. Even as per the provisions of the amended Roshni Act unauthorized residential colonies regularized (30-12-2004) by the Housing and Urban Development Department upto 2005, shall not fall under the ambit of the Roshni scheme. Such 13 unauthorised colonies were regularised on payment of Rs 15,000 to Rs 40,000 Per Kanal (Jogi Gate Rs. 15,000 per Kanal, New Plots area Rs. 20,000 per Kanal and Chand Nagar Rs. 40,000 per Kanal by Jammu Development Authority under government order No. 88 of 2005 dated 18-03-2005. Some of the lease owners of government land who had been granted lands under proper government orders as far back as 1950s/ 1960s for residential purposes may have genuine reasons to feel discriminated under the policy for treating them worth rights even less than the unauthorized possession holders/ encroachers and make them to pay more than grabbers (25 % to 40 % of assessed market cost i.e even Rs 25 to 30 lakh per kanal ). Cost for converting 40 year lease to ownership status should not be more than what was taken for unauthorized colonies of JDA by government in 2005 or other Boards of bodies is what some have pleaded.
2.Those urban / rural occupants who were allotted lands on long lease 20yrs/40 yrs/60 yrs as a society / trust or for commercial purposes.
3.The occupants who have encroached government lands for residential purposes / business purposes/ and were holding their possession before 1990 ( later extended to 2004) , and have no any formal allotment / lease orderissued any time ( in the past) for such lands in their favour.
4.Those persons who have occupied / encroached upon agriculture lands and have been allotted lands under Roshni free of cost (as per CAG report upto March 2013 out of the 3,48,160 kanal land case decided till March 2013 a large chunk of 3,40,090 kanal ( 97.68%) has been under this category.
To be continued
(Daya Sagar is Sr Journalist & social activist can be reached at [email protected])
