Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 18: The J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Ghulam Ahmad Mir today said that the agricultural land needs to be protected in J&K rather than changing its status from agricultural to non-agricultural land.
Mir also demanded roll back on the decision which is bound to cause restlessness in Jammu as well as in Kashmir.
JKPCC leader urged the Government not to disturb the land status in Jammu and Kashmir as that will lead to further disappointment and restlessness among the people, which has to be avoided.
“Many random decisions including the recent one on land use policy have been rolled out,” Mir added and slammed the recent change in land use laws announced by the Jammu and Kashmir Govt while demanding immediate roll back on the decisions keeping in view the significance of agricultural land and interests of the people.
“J&K has vast horticulture production, which is the backbone of its economy, so Govt must take measures to boost the Horticulture production rather than changing land use policy,” Mir emphasized.
JKPCC president said that land conversion amounts to demographic changes in J&K, which is not acceptable while having its far reaching repercussions.
Mir also referred to the directions of the Supreme Court and High Court that no permission should be granted for conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural purposes, which the Centre has also assured the people of J&K from time to time and needs to be respected.
Meanwhile, taking a strong exception to the recent changes in land use laws, Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari has demanded immediate rollback of the decision that is loaded with far reaching consequences.
Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s Parliament speech, Bukhari said the agricultural land in Jammu and Kashmir is supposed to be safeguarded by the Government against any kind of fiddling with its land use status.
He regretted that many arbitrary decisions including the recent one on land use policy have been rolled out resulting in an unwanted increase in the alienation among the people.
“Such policy decisions are the prerogative of an elected government and the present dispensation should desist from taking such unilateral moves that put a question mark on its mandate,” Bukhari remarked.
“The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir has also barred conversion of agricultural land in J&K in view of the fast shrinking agricultural land mass and its repercussions on overall crop production that has witnessed a drastic fall in the last many years,” he observed.
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