Dark side of Roshni: Estimate Rs 25000 cr, actual Rs 76 cr ‘Fears that the much-hyped scheme is a huge scam proving right’ Srinagar, Oct 8: Indicating that the much hyped Roshni scheme was falling apart, the Jammu and Kashmir Government Tuesday revealed that it has generated just four crore rupees revenue under the program during the past four years. 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, Minister for Revenue Aijaz Ahmad Khan said in his response to a question in the Legislative Assembly. 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 5 May, 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. The fears that Roshni is a scam are proving right now, said the administrative head of a district. He cited an example that the land sold under Roshni for peanuts to illegal occupants was being bought back by the government at whopping costs for various development projects.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 04:21:43 +0000
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