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Srinagar: A bill which restores the bar on non-residents from obtaining land on lease in Jammu and Kashmir was introduced in the legislative assembly on Wednesday (April 1) amid stiff opposition from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Peoples Democratic Party and (PDP) others.

The ruling National Conference (NC) has touted the legislation as an attempt to reclaim land rights for local residents by reversing what the party has called a historic injustice inflicted upon the people of J&K after the erstwhile state was stripped of its special status, bifurcated and downgraded to two Union territories in 2019.

The proposed legislation, brought by the NC legislator from Srinagar’s Zadibal constituency Tanvir Sadiq calls to “restore the J&K Land Grants Act 1960 and the rules formed there under to their original form as it existed prior to J&K Land Grants Rules 2022 to protect the rights of existing leases and occupants”.

The bill titled “Amendments to the Land Grants Act” seeks to “ensure that public land serves the interests of people of Jammu and Kashmir”.

The legislation would enable the government to renew the leases of the existing occupants of government land and other properties, particularly in the tourism sector, instead of mandating fresh auctions as laid down........

© The Wire