Jammu
Democratic Progressive Azad Party president Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday said the eviction drive to retrieve government land was unlawful and claimed he will bring back the Roshni Scheme if his party is voted to power in the next assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Everyone, including government officials, who used the scheme to usurp large chunks of land will face the law, he said. On November 1, 2020, the Union Territory administration cancelled all land transfers that took place under the JK State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001 – also known as the Roshni Act – under which 2.5 lakh acres of land was to be transferred to existing occupants. Over 10 lakh kanals of land was retrieved by the government after the Revenue department directed all deputy commissioners to ensure 100 per cent removal of encroachments from state land including the land meant for grazing that which came under Roshni Act on January 7 this year. The Act, popularly called as Roshni scheme, initially envisaged conferment of proprietary rights of around 20.55 lakh kanals (1,02,750 hectares) to the occupants. Of this land, only 15.85 per cent was approved for vesting of ownership rights. The scheme was finally repealed by then governor Satya Pal Malik on November 28, 2018. 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, Azad told a group of Gujjars who joined his party here.
