No outsider being given land under PMAY: J&K L-G

Days after controversy erupted over a proposal by the government to provide ‘land to landless’ people Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Saturday said clarified that no outsider was being given land under Pradhan Mantri’s Awas Yojna (PMAY).

Without naming two former chief ministers of J&K - Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, he said those who grabbed state land illegally should stop misleading people.

Omar and Mehbooba had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government of attempting to change the demography of the Union Territory. The remarks came after Sinha announced on July 3, that the administration had cleared a proposal on June 21 to provide five marlas (126 sq m) land to each landless family in J&K.

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“Many people came to me saying that they were eligible for the PMAY but they had no land. So the administration took a review and decided to give such families 5 marlas land under PMAY so that they can construct their own houses,” the L-G said while addressing a function in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

So far, he said, 1,99,500 homes have been sanctioned for homeless families. “The figure includes 46,000 SC and ST category families who were eligible for the scheme besides 2,711 families who had no land,” the L-G said.

Without naming any political party or leader, he said that those who grabbed state land and constructed huge houses not with their own money, should stop misleading people. “These people should stop creating confusion,” he said.

The L-G was in Baramulla to inaugurate a multipurpose 100-seater cinema hall. “This Cinema at Maqbool Sherwani Hall Baramulla will not just be the source of entertainment but also a great source of learning for the youth who want to excel in education, technology and art,” he said.