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The government emphasized that Mufti’s statement alleging land allotment to 2 lakh individuals is factually incorrect and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the PMAY scheme and J&K’s revenue laws.
SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has rejected the allegations made by Mehbooba Mufti, the president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), regarding the settlement of outsiders under the guise of the land to the landless scheme, terming them “factually incorrect.”
An official spokesperson stated, “Mehbooba Mufti’s assertion that the government is allotting land to around two lakh individuals is factually incorrect, and her statements show a lack of understanding of the PMAY scheme.”
The government acknowledged that out of the total 1,99,550 cases, 2,711 were identified as lacking clear land titles. These cases involved individuals residing on state land, forest land, Rakhs and Farms land where construction is not permitted, custodian land, and land allotted to displaced people near Dachigam park for agriculture purposes. To fulfill the objective of providing housing for all, the government decided to allocate 5 marlas of land to these 2,711 cases.
As government can not sanction house to someone who doesn’t have land, therefore in order to ensure housing for all, government has taken a policy decision to allot 5 marlas of land to these 2711 cases so that they can get houses. This is indicative of Government’s commitment to the poor, the statement read.
“Therefore statement of Ms. Mufti that government is allotting land to 2 lakh odd persons is factually incorrect and all statements made by her are without having any understanding of the PMAY scheme.
There are 2711 cases which are part of the 2018-19 provisional waiting list of houseless persons of J&K, who were debarred from having house, just because either they didn’t have land or the land they have is state/forest/any other category of land where construction is not permitted. Data being quoted by her is of Housing & urban affairs, while PMAYG scheme is of Ministry of Rural Development for rural areas of J&K,” it said.
In a comprehensive rebuttal, the government clarified that the PMAY (Grameen) phase 1 began in 2016, identifying 2,57,349 cases of houselessness based on the 2011 SECC data. Out of these cases, 1,36,152 were sanctioned for J&K, aligning with the commitment of providing “Housing for all by 2022.” The government emphasized that each house receives Rs 1.30 lakh in assistance, with a minimum prescribed size of 1 marla.
The government further explained that a survey called Awaas+ was conducted from January 2018 to March 2019 to identify beneficiaries not included in the 2011 SECC. The data captured through Awaas+ helped bridge the gap between the overall target and eligible beneficiaries from the SECC Permanent Wait List (PWL). PMAY Phase-II (AWAS Plus) Grameen, initiated in 2019, recorded 2.65 lakh houseless cases in J&K, with a target of 63,426 houses. These houses were sanctioned in 2022.
Highlighting J&K’s success in sanctioning and completing houses, the government announced that on May 30, 2023, an additional 1,99,550 PMAY AWAS PLUS houses were sanctioned to ensure housing for all homeless individuals from PWL 2019. The survey followed clear guidelines, prioritizing individuals living in zero, one, or two-room kachha houses, as defined in the scheme guidelines.
