JK Politicians react, bureaucrat answers about new land law
While the entire leadership in Jammu and Kashmir has condemned the recent amendment in the land laws and have described it as not acceptable, a senior bureaucrat of JK administration Rohit Kansal has said that it was done only to clean the system and make laws people friendly.
Rohit Kansal in a press conference on Monday said that the old land laws system of the erstwhile JK state was meant to serve the rural and agrarian economy and that it was regressive and anti-people.
Kansal said, “Old land laws system of Jammu and Kashmir was maybe appropriate when introduced but was essentially meant to serve a rural and agrarian economy. It became obsolete and when looked at as a whole suffered from redundancies and was regressive and anti-people,” ANI reported.
Former Chief Ministers along with lawmakers and even the Jammu leadership have rejected the amendments and have even protested on the streets these amendments. The JK Apni Party which is regarded in many political circles close to New Delhi has also said that they will not accept these amendments and described them as anti-people.
A senior bureaucrat has been deputed by the government to answer the questions raised by the political leadership of Jammu and Kashmir.
Kansal who was once one of the favorite officers of a former chief minister, has answered these questions in his own way. He said that these amendments were done as there was a need to clean the system and give a set of simple land laws to prevent unnecessary litigation and discretionary interpretation, “As we know any such interpretation leaves scope for vested interests to operate. In this background, 11 laws have been repealed,”
It is in place to mention that the Centre recently notified land laws, paving the way for any citizen of India to buy land in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The ministry of home affairs in its release stated that the order will be called the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third Order, 2020.
