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| Azad: Roshni 21st century's biggest Roshni | | 1400 become land owners | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu|Sep 25
Describing his controversial Roshni scheme as biggest land reform of 21st century, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today announced proprietary rights of the government land to 1400 families which had applied for the ownership.
Addressing a largely attended public meeting on border township of RS Pura, Azad said that in a single stroke of decision his government parted of with a land worth Rs 16,000 crores which he said is three times higher than state's annual budget. "This was the biggest gift of the 21st century to the farmer", said the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister described the measure as ground-breaking. He said the government had sacrificed for the interests of the farmers huge financial benefit amounting to Rs. 16,000 crore that could have accrued to it by the sale of this land. This, he reminded them, is not a small decision and was taken for their benefit. He said in turn the government did not charge a penny from them. He said that Rs. 100 per kanal charged from the beneficiary farmers is the cost of the papers to be prepared for the transfer of proprietary rights and not the cost of the land. He said that of the 21.5 lakh kanals of land to be transferred to farmers, 11.5 lakhs kanals are in Jammu division while the rest is in Kashmir division. He noted with satisfaction that not a single case of corruption was reported in the transfer of land to farmers.
The Chief Minister introduced the farmers to the benefits of the transfer of proprietary rights to them and said that although prior to this they were in possession of the land and tilled it too but did not have any rights over it. He said now onwards they are the owners of this land. He said earlier if government wanted to raise any infrastructure like a school, stadium or a canal on this land the farmers would not get any money in lieu of that. However, he said, now the situation is different. He said if a farmer wanted to take bank loan for agriculture or business activity he could obtain it by mortgaging the land on which he has been given proprietary rights. He, however, asked the farmers to watch out against land grabbers who could entice them into selling their land cheap.
The Chief Minister said that the objective of the Roshni Act was to make the farmers owners of the land that was in their possession for long and at the same time ensure that the State is agriculturally self-reliant. He said Jammu & Kashmir is still to reach that stage as presently it imports 50 % foodgrains. He said with the farmers getting ownership rights on 21.5 lakh kanals of land the agriculture production is going to increase substantially.
Azad referred to the problems of the refugees of 1947, 1965 and 1971 and said that he had called an All Parties meeting to evolve consensus on the issue. He regretted that due to the stand taken by some political parties the consensus could not be evolved. He said some issues require legislation or amendment in the Constitution for which the ruling Congress party does not have the required majority in the legislature. He said the party would need support of other political parties also. He said where there is no need to make law or amend the Constitution the government would leave no stone unturned in helping the refugees. He said he would visit some of the major refugee camps in the coming days to take first hand account of their problems. He said by visiting the camps he wants to have the feel of the problem himself rather than depend on information received from various quarters.
Legislators R. S. Chib, Suman Lata Bhata and Gharu Ram explained the salient features of the Roshni Scheme describing it as a bold decision of the Chief Minister. They also presented development demands of the area and highlighted the achievements of the government.
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