Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 14: Reiterating that he will bring back the Roshni Scheme if his party is voted to power in the next Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad today said that everyone, including Government officials, who used the scheme to usurp large chunks of land will face the law.
Click here to watch video
While talking to a group of Gujjar community members at his residence, here today, he defended the Roshni Scheme and said it was meant to benefit the landless poor in the villages and also regularise the land in the cities to generate revenue.
“The scheme was passed by the J&K Cabinet headed by me and the Assembly. The landless were provided land by Maharaja Hari Singh, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and later my Government,” he said.
Admitting that there were complaints of wrong-doing by some people, including members of the Government and Police, Azad said that besides bringing back the Roshni Scheme, he would also launch an inquiry against the officials against whom there were complaints of wrongdoings.
As the Gujjar community members, led by DPAP leader and JMC Councilor Sobat Ali, informed him that they were being constantly harassed by the Government officials who kept saying that they were living on forest land and their houses and shops would be razed, Azad said that the eviction drive to retrieve Government land in Jammu and Kashmir was unlawful.
“The eviction drive was unlawful, so we staged over 85 protests across the UT. When there was no impact of the protests, I met the Lt Governor and the Home Minister and raised the issue forcefully,” he said
Azad said everyone in Jammu & Kashmir is facing this problem. “After 1947, people occupied land in plains for their resettlement. In Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata, we saw Governments regularising such colonies. I was in Congress when our Government passed a law to provide rights over Forest land to the inhabitants but this law was not implemented in J&K due to Article 370,” he explained.
“We did a wrong by not implementing the law as we were of the notion that they will not face any eviction drive. However, when Article 370 was abrogated in August 2019, the Forest Land Act got automatically extended to J&K but instead of implementing it, the administration started an eviction drive which was unlawful,” he added.
Later talking to reporters, the DPAP leader said that he will regularise the daily-wagers working in different Government departments for over two decades.
“Hundreds and thousands of daily-wagers met me, they are getting Rs 5,000 to Rs 9,000 and are not being regularised. They have got married and are over-age to look for other jobs. It will be my first priority as they have a right,” he said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
