JAMMU, October 14: Ghulam Nabi Azad, the president of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party, declared the recent eviction drive aimed at reclaiming government land as “unlawful” and pledged to reinstate the Roshni Scheme if his party secures victory in the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Azad emphasized that all individuals, including government officials who exploited the Roshni Scheme to acquire substantial land holdings, would be held accountable by the law.
On November 1, 2020, the Union Territory administration annulled all land transfers executed under the JK State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, widely known as the Roshni Act, through which 2.5 lakh acres of land were intended to be transferred to existing occupants. The government successfully reclaimed over 10 lakh kanals of land, following directives from the Revenue department to eliminate encroachments from state land, including the land covered by the Roshni Act, on January 7 this year.
Initially, the Roshni scheme aimed to grant proprietary rights over approximately 20.55 lakh kanals (1,02,750 hectares) to the occupants. However, only 15.85 percent of this land was approved for vesting ownership rights.
The Roshni scheme was ultimately revoked by the former Governor Satya Pal Malik on November 28, 2018.
Azad remarked, “The eviction drive was unlawful, so we staged over 85 protests across the UT. When there was no impact of the protests, I met the Lt. Governor and the Home Minister and raised the issue forcefully.”
A group of Gujjars, led by DPAP leader and JMC corporator Sobat Ali, met Azad at his residence and expressed their ongoing harassment by government officials who claimed they were residing on forest land and threatened to demolish their houses and shops.
Azad asserted that the people of Jammu & Kashmir were facing similar problems. He explained that after 1947, individuals settled in the plains and occupied land for their resettlement. In many major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Kolkata, governments regularized such colonies. Azad mentioned that while he was part of the Congress party, their government enacted a law to grant rights over forest land to the inhabitants, but this law wasn’t implemented in J&K due to Article 370.
He defended the Roshni scheme, stating its purpose was to benefit landless individuals in villages and regularize land in cities to generate revenue. Azad claimed that the scheme had been passed by the J&K cabinet, the assembly, and was meant to provide land to the landless poor as historically done by figures such as Maharaja Hari Singh and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. However, Azad acknowledged that there were allegations of misconduct by certain individuals, including government and police members.
Azad vowed that, if elected, he would revive the Roshni scheme and initiate an inquiry into officials facing allegations of wrongdoing. In addition, he expressed his commitment to regularize daily-wagers who have served in various government departments for over two decades. These individuals, he stated, deserved to be regularized as they had worked for extended periods and were currently facing issues related to their employment status and age.
