| Roshni Scam: VO prepares 'Line of Action', seeks revenue records | | Rs 25,000 Cr targeted, Rs 76.45 Cr fetched | | SUMIT SHARMA
Jammu, Jan 15:Acting upon the directions from Chief Vigilance Commissioner Kuldeep Khoda, the State Vigilance Organization asked the district SPs of Vigilance to crack the case with speedy investigation, however, officers, sources within Vigilance said, in turn after preparing Line of Action have sought revenue record from the offices of concerned District Development Commissioners for scrutiny, in much hyped Roshni Scam, as a part of detailed investigation to fix criminal culpability of the public servants and beneficiaries of land transfers which leaves a dent of Crores of rupees to the public exchequer.
The Roshni scam came to fore after CAG indicted J&K IAS officers for their "involvement" in the Roshni scam and "non-cooperation" with the auditors in a report to be submitted to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in the coming Budget session. CAG also mentioned the names of bureaucrats namely Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Arun Kumar; Secretary, Revenue, Vinod Kaul; and Secretary, Administrative Reforms, Ghulam Hassan Tantray. Chief Secretary Iqbal Khanday and Principal Secretary, Finance, Bharat Bhushan Vyas for allegedly not cooperating in the audit.
Pertinently, the total earnings under the scheme, once estimated to fetch the State Rs 25000 crore, have not crossed even Rs 80 crore more than 12 years after its implementation.
The program has fetched Rs 76.45 crore against the cost of Rs 317.41 crore approved on 3.48 lakh kanals of land for grant of ownership to the occupants.
Earlier, in March 2010, the Government informed the Assembly which was in budget session at Jammu, that Rs 72 crore revenue was generated under the scheme.
Of the total land decided under Roshni, the minister said the highest, 3.40 lakh kanals are agricultural in nature, 6949 kanals residential and 990 kanals commercial in nature. Another 130 kanals were used for construction of institutions.
The JK Government had in 2001 enacted the Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, also named Roshni Act, to generate Rs 25,000 crore by vesting ownership rights over Nazool land.
The aim was to sell the State land at market rates to illegal occupants. But 12 years on, the scheme has turned out to be the biggest fraud, a senior Revenue official explained.
The State not only lost its prized land but the revised expected returns have gone down to a meager Rs 6000 crore. There are now apprehensions that even the target of Rs 6000 crore would not be met.
In 2007, for conferring ownership rights of the State land, the Ghulam Nabi Azad Government framed new rules - The Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Rules, 2007, issued under Revenue Department Notification SRO 64 dated May 5, 2007.
The "authorized occupants" owning residential structures on State or Nazool land up to 2 kanals were required to pay only 25 percent of the value of the land and 40 percent up to 10 kanals. For authorized overstayed and unauthorized occupants, the rates were fixed at 35 percent and 50 percent of the value of the land respectively.
In commercial category, authorized, authorized overstayed and unauthorized occupants had to pay 30 percent, 45 percent and 60 percent of the value of the land respectively.
In case of institutions- education/ religious/charitable/social institutions/ trusts/societies and political parties, the rates were fixed at 15 percent and 25 percent of the market value of the land respectively.
But the blow to the Roshni scheme was dealt in February 2007 when the then government reintroduced the scheme in legislature, fixing a token amount of Rs 100 for up to 100 kanals of agriculture land. |
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