Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 14: The Jammu Kashmir Sharnarthi Action Committee (JKSAC) a legendry organisation articulating the final settlement cause of DPs of 1947 from POK since 1976, has reiterated its demand for constitution of high level committee to probe the violation of Agrarian Reform Act 1976 being committed by Revenue Department since decades under the patronage of their senior officers particularly in respect of DPs settled on lands in the rural areas of Jammu Province.
The participants in the meeting appealed to Lt. Governor, Manoj Sinha and Shaleen Kabra, Principal Secretary Revenue to take cognizance of this sensitive issue seriously and urged upon to intervene to put a rein on revenue officers/officials particularly tehsildar and Patwaris having no respect for the law and are looting the people in broad-day light. The corruption in Revenue deptt. is touching new heights with every passing day. JKSAC demands the constitution of a committee having high level revenue experts to probe into the violation of Agrarian Reform Act and other revenue laws till today. The violators should be identified and given strict punishment under law to restore the shattered faith of suffering people in good governance of govt as claimed everyday.
Addressing the meeting of DPs held at Gadigarh in Jammu Gurdev Singh, president JKSAC alongwith Dwarka Nath and Capt Puran Singh, Joginder Lal and Khem Raj said that, how much incredible it may sound but it is a hard truth that Revenue Deptt is itself a Govt within the Govt. The officers/officials of this Deptt are the Govt employees getting their pays from the public exchequer but they work as per whims and fancies of non-players. They violate the law and make fun of it. He said their unlawful activities compelled DPs and others to go for litigations and after years of such indulging such litigations when orders are passed by court, Tribunals, certain other officers delegated Agrarian Reform powers in favour of DPs as per Agrarian Reform laws are not implemented by many tehsildars and patwaries. He said that district-wise data of such order would be produced before the media in the coming days.
He further said that after very hard struggle put forth by JKSAC in early 70’s, the DPs who were allotted meager legal evacuee lands for their sustenance were conferred occupancy tenancy rights under section 3-A and more concession were also given with regard to possession of their allotted land vide para I and II of section (2) of section 4 of Agrarian Reform Act 1976. These sections of Agrarian Reform Act are being misused by Tehsildar and Patwaries in favour of non-DPs till today who are also in possession of evacuee lands.
Pertinent to mention here that as per a report submitted by J&K Govt to GOI, nearly 27 lakhs kanals of evacuee lands was vacated by people who left Indian part of J&K either for POK or for Pakistan. Hardly 15% of this land has been allotted to DPs of 1947 from POK and the remaining lakhs of kanals of lands has been swallowed by high profile people through Revenue Deptt.
Under the garb of section 3-A, occupancy tenancy rights were also given to such illegal possessors who sold these lands.He said that if the matter is investigated properly then it will prove one of the biggest land scandal not of J&K but of India also, where such a huge quantum of land has been misappropriated by the Revenue official.He sought high level probe into the matter.
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