Annul recent order regarding PoJK DPs: BJP

Jammu, July 22: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday urged the J&K government to annul its recent order declaring the “government land allotted to PoJK Displaced Persons as state land.”

“We request the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir to exclude the government land allotted to PoJK (1947, 65, 71) Displaced Persons (DPs) from this order. The original 254 C order, implemented in 1965, for ownership rights to PoJK Displaced Persons’ land should kept as such. In fact, the recent order declaring the government land allotted to PoJK displaced persons as state land may be declared null and void,” urged BJP national secretary Dr Narinder Singh Raina, while addressing a press conference here at party headquarters in Trikuta Nagar, Jammu.

Dr Narinder was accompanied by former MLC Choudhary Vikram Randhawa; office secretary Tilak Raj Gupta; media in-charge Dr Pardeep Mahotra and senior leader Manmohan Singh.

“The G.O. 254-C of 1965 of J&K government has already given the ownership rights on government land allotted to PoJK displaced persons, thus providing for this land to be excluded from the order marking the entire state land in the negative list,” Dr Narinder Raina said.

While referring to the Parliamentary resolution of February, 1994, he said that the DPs from PoJK, residing in camps as well as non-camp DPs, were allotted lands, which was evacuee as well as government property, for agriculture use, under C.O. 578-C of 1954. Under G.O 254-C of 1965, they were given ownership rights in 1965, but unfortunately, under a recent order, this land was put under “red land.”

He pointed out, “In 1976, under Agrarian Reform Act, the land allotted to PoJK Displaced Persons was excluded from this Act under schedule II, implying that this can be transferred to kin and can be sold till now. But, now the government land allotted to PoJK DPs has been added under ‘state land’ by an order of J&K government, thus preventing its transfer to kin and its sale. We request the LG of Jammu & Kashmir to again exclude the government land allotted to PoJK (1947, 65, 71) displaced persons from this order.”

The BJP leader said that when the Displaced Persons came here, the government developed their colonies (Bastis). He also requested the LG administration to regularize those colonies.

“These colonies cannot be registered on individual names and hence one cannot avail loans or sell the land. There were earlier 46 colonies (Basties). But now the number of Bastis has increased, we request LG Sinha to regularize and register them all,” Dr Narinder Raina urged.