A A Latief U Zaman Deva
SNS KASHMIR
SRINAGAR FEBRUARY,10:
At the outset the long overdue sustained drive for retrieval of illegally occupied State and community oriented Shamilat lands is Welcome & gratifying which in the event of its fruition in rural areas would pave the way for not only revival but also in the process the sustainable rejuvenation of agro-based enterprises in pristine eco- system. While all sections of the Society have exhibited their disinclination in joining status quoists for throwing spanner in the endeavours of the UT Govtt in this behalf, the following types of cases need attention of the authorities in order to prevent the momentum of the campaign from getting derailed:-
1) Before independence and thereafter the peasantry & small farmers in cultivating possession or occupation of state land were granted tenancy rights followed by ownership rights more particularly under LB-6 & 7 of 1958 & S-432 of 1966 but its actual beneficiaries were mostly from the affluent classes , bureaucrats, politicians and those having access to the corridors of governing bodies. The purposes visualised transfer of land to downtrodden & toiling mases actually cultivating the State land but due to menace of corruption and poverty of the actual prospective beneficiaries to grease the palms of the authorities; they have not been conferred with rights under relevant orders . The updation of the land records also got jolted due to blanket ban imposed on attestation of the Mutations under these orders owing to impending land reforms 1972 & 1976 & later on the embargo lifted during 1985/86 but again reimposed thereafter for none of the faults of rightful occupants & the cultivators. It is in this background that the land under their cultivating possession continues to be recorded as state land & now being served with Notices for surrendering the possession notwithstanding the fact that irrespective of attestation of the Mutations or otherwise in their favour the rights have accrued in their favour which canโt be after 65 years aborted at this stage which is the law of the land by virtue of unchallenged decisions of the High Court of the J&k on the subject entitling such occupants to compensation wherever the land came under acquisition ,
2) The Govtt should Institute inquiry for finding out as to how people on the basis of their socio-economic status in the concerned societies & the naked fact that they have had never cultivated the land themselves including their families for generations and yet conferred with the benefits of the Govtt orders ibid particularly in cases where the beneficiaries were not born on the cut of date or still infants or in adolescence and residing far away from the land usurped under the subterfuge of these orders,
3) The community lands brought under plantation need not be denuded but, having vested in PRIs & Urban local bodies, handed over to them with conditions for not changing the status of land except under orders of the Govtt in individual cases on the basis of scheme as may be notified by the Govtt, or on valve to valve basis exchanges allowed with the proprietary land of the illegal occupants contiguous with the community lands,
4) Houseless & landless families in possession of state land not exceeding 02 kanals were entitled to retain the land for residential purposes under J&K Agrarian Reforms Act. Similarly the occupants of State Or kahcharia land, used for raising a planation Or an orchard, got an option for offering equivalent proprietary land in exchange for protecting the plantations. Wherever the legal course has been followed under the Act of 1976, the JCB should not be pressed into service,
5) Under Common Lands(Regulations) Act the state and Shamilat land brought under its purview by extending the โAbadi Dehโ for allotment of 05 Marla plots to landless & homeless families, the non-updation of records in this respect should not lead to declaring the allottees as illegal occupants. In rest of the Country it is customary to regularise the colonies as have come up against the urban laws or on the State land or both & back home in Jammu 18 colonies from time to time are claimed to have been regularised by the Govtt on the recommendations of Jammu Municipal Corp and the Jammu Development Authority,
6) The kahcharia within the territories of Municipalities has ceased to be so in view of application of urban land laws and virtual extinction of cattle rearing as a result of change of professions by the inhabitants of new areas included in respective Municipalities. Since before earmarking of land as kahcharia the said land was actually as state land & therefore owing to the factum of its non-use for grazing purposes it reverts back to the State who, after determining its use if any by the state, charge the occupants with cost of land based on 100% increase on the stamp duty rates as the minimum subject to enhancement on the basis of the commercial potential in the area provided the proposed use comports with the land use & developmental plans under the Master Plan,
7) Street vendors markets have come up in metropolitan & other cities under the orders of the Apex courts for rehabilitation of the unauthorised street vendos and therefore on the strength of the same rational the rehabilitation of the existing vendors is called for who are currently fearing demolitions and seizer of the properties and
8) The instruments of the State, wherever holding any Immovable property as custodians under any law for the time being in force and the same suffering from encroachments, should be provided paraphernalia & wherewithal for retrieval of their properties and in fact like state and Shamilat Dafa 05 the Dy commissioners should include Dharmat, wakaf & evacuees land also in the campaign underway in the UT for retrieval of the immovable properties under unauthorised occupation .
To live in a civilised way in our much sought after habitat the time is ripe to bid adieu to the culture of complacency with flouting of regulatory and developmental laws and let it be the commitment of all political parties in their manifestoes for the forthcoming elections to the J&K legislative Assembly.
At the outset the long overdue sustained drive for retrieval of illegally occupied State and community oriented Shamilat lands is Welcome & gratifying which in the event of its fruition in rural areas would pave the way for not only revival but also in the process the sustainable rejuvenation of agro-based enterprises in pristine eco- system. While all sections of the Society have exhibited their disinclination in joining status quoists for throwing spanner in the endeavours of the UT Govtt in this behalf, the following types of cases need attention of the authorities in order to prevent the momentum of the campaign from getting derailed:-
1) Before independence and thereafter the peasantry & small farmers in cultivating possession or occupation of state land were granted tenancy rights followed by ownership rights more particularly under LB-6 & 7 of 1958 & S-432 of 1966 but its actual beneficiaries were mostly from the affluent classes , bureaucrats, politicians and those having access to the corridors of governing bodies. The purposes visualised transfer of land to downtrodden & toiling mases actually cultivating the State land but due to menace of corruption and poverty of the actual prospective beneficiaries to grease the palms of the authorities; they have not been conferred with rights under relevant orders . The updation of the land records also got jolted due to blanket ban imposed on attestation of the Mutations under these orders owing to impending land reforms 1972 & 1976 & later on the embargo lifted during 1985/86 but again reimposed thereafter for none of the faults of rightful occupants & the cultivators. It is in this background that the land under their cultivating possession continues to be recorded as state land & now being served with Notices for surrendering the possession notwithstanding the fact that irrespective of attestation of the Mutations or otherwise in their favour the rights have accrued in their favour which canโt be after 65 years aborted at this stage which is the law of the land by virtue of unchallenged decisions of the High Court of the J&k on the subject entitling such occupants to compensation wherever the land came under acquisition ,
2) The Govtt should Institute inquiry for finding out as to how people on the basis of their socio-economic status in the concerned societies & the naked fact that they have had never cultivated the land themselves including their families for generations and yet conferred with the benefits of the Govtt orders ibid particularly in cases where the beneficiaries were not born on the cut of date or still infants or in adolescence and residing far away from the land usurped under the subterfuge of these orders,
3) The community lands brought under plantation need not be denuded but, having vested in PRIs & Urban local bodies, handed over to them with conditions for not changing the status of land except under orders of the Govtt in individual cases on the basis of scheme as may be notified by the Govtt, or on valve to valve basis exchanges allowed with the proprietary land of the illegal occupants contiguous with the community lands,
4) Houseless & landless families in possession of state land not exceeding 02 kanals were entitled to retain the land for residential purposes under J&K Agrarian Reforms Act. Similarly the occupants of State Or kahcharia land, used for raising a planation Or an orchard, got an option for offering equivalent proprietary land in exchange for protecting the plantations. Wherever the legal course has been followed under the Act of 1976, the JCB should not be pressed into service,
5) Under Common Lands(Regulations) Act the state and Shamilat land brought under its purview by extending the โAbadi Dehโ for allotment of 05 Marla plots to landless & homeless families, the non-updation of records in this respect should not lead to declaring the allottees as illegal occupants. In rest of the Country it is customary to regularise the colonies as have come up against the urban laws or on the State land or both & back home in Jammu 18 colonies from time to time are claimed to have been regularised by the Govtt on the recommendations of Jammu Municipal Corp and the Jammu Development Authority,
6) The kahcharia within the territories of Municipalities has ceased to be so in view of application of urban land laws and virtual extinction of cattle rearing as a result of change of professions by the inhabitants of new areas included in respective Municipalities. Since before earmarking of land as kahcharia the said land was actually as state land & therefore owing to the factum of its non-use for grazing purposes it reverts back to the State who, after determining its use if any by the state, charge the occupants with cost of land based on 100% increase on the stamp duty rates as the minimum subject to enhancement on the basis of the commercial potential in the area provided the proposed use comports with the land use & developmental plans under the Master Plan,
7) Street vendors markets have come up in metropolitan & other cities under the orders of the Apex courts for rehabilitation of the unauthorised street vendos and therefore on the strength of the same rational the rehabilitation of the existing vendors is called for who are currently fearing demolitions and seizer of the properties and
8) The instruments of the State, wherever holding any Immovable property as custodians under any law for the time being in force and the same suffering from encroachments, should be provided paraphernalia & wherewithal for retrieval of their properties and in fact like state and Shamilat Dafa 05 the Dy commissioners should include Dharmat, wakaf & evacuees land also in the campaign underway in the UT for retrieval of the immovable properties under unauthorised occupation .
To live in a civilised way in our much sought after habitat the time is ripe to bid adieu to the culture of complacency with flouting of regulatory and developmental laws and let it be the commitment of all political parties in their manifestoes for the forthcoming elections to the J&K legislative Assembly.
The author is IAS Rtd & former Chairman of J&K PSC & can be reached on aaluzdeva_221256@ymail.com