Sir,
This has reference to the article ‘Ring Road in deep freezer’ DE Mar 2019. The state of affairs as highlighted by Dr. Bhat, speak truly of the pathetic state of state administrative machinery particularly in matters covering the activities of agro and allied sector with special reference to land acquisition.
It needs to be pointed out that the machinery at the helm of affairs is either totally ignorant or intends to avoid the ground realities for reasons best known to them. This is evident from the fact that actions are taken half heartedly in solving the problem as otherwise there is no reason as to why even in the matter of revision of stamp duty on land transfer, the same should be an eye wash as the duty which has been made effective in Jammu with effect from 1st January 2019 is still 1/10th to 1/15th of prevailing market value of the land.
In Jammu District alone, the farmers have been made to suffer due to flaw in the rates at which land acquisition awards have been issued. These work out even less than 1/20th to 1/30th of the market value and even less in few cases. The revised stamp duty is just 1/10th to 1/15th of the prevailing market value. This can be checked from the rates at which the properties are exchanged in Gandhi Nagar area of Jammu City itself, where stamp duty is shown as exorbitantly low. For instance in Kashmir province due to awakening of farmers and realization by bureaucracy the rates offered have been somewhat revised although not 100% equivalent of the prevailing lands cost and horticulture produce cost. The compensation in Jammu is exorbitantly miserable as no reasonable revision has been provided in the matter of assessment of cost of horticulture social forestry, floriculture, sericulture produce, cost of construction as they are still being worked out on the basis of elements assessed during 1995.
Administrative apathy is evident from the fact that although every year till 1965 the canal system in Jammu was getting desilted manually to make it fit for water supply by 28th of February every year. Now in the name of Mechanical dredging all canals are chocked and desilted for name sake only. The position is horrible and it appears the state has no intention of maintaining the canal system as is evident from the distributory No. 9, where the bed level of canal in Nai Basti area of Jammu appears to be at the level of the road. The left bank of the canal is left to be occupied by miscreants. Irrigation Department appears to be interested in deployment of machines and plastering only with maximum cement and stone with no manual labour deployment. In fact the job desilting should be entrusted to the labour deployed under MGNREGA, MPLAD funds schemes even it requires increasing such allocations as that will not only provide employment to rural labour but with also ensure steady income to the sector.
With this we wish if Hon’ble Governor’s Administration can arise to the occasion in addressing the problem of compensation to the farmers and maintenance of infrastructure required for upkeep of agro sector.
S C Dubey
Convenor / President
Ring Road Kisaan Sangrash Samiti, Jammu
Sir,
This refers to column titled ” Ring Road in deep freezer” (DE 20.03.2019). Ring Road projects in Srinagar and Jammu were given a lot of hype by PDP-BJP Government and Prime Minister Modi himself came to Srinagar and Jammu to inaugurate these projects last year in May. It is disheartening to know that not even a single kilometer of Ring Road has been completed in Srinagar and Jammu project is also going through lots of controversies as compensation paid to farmers is said to be very less. Ring Road in Jammu or Srinagar will help decongestion of traffic and the work on both these projects should be taken up as soon as possible.
Framers affected by Ring Road projects in Kashmir or Jammu should be taken on board and discussion be held with them as mandated under J&K Land Acquisition Act 1934 (Private Negotiation-PNC). Why shall farmers move from pillar to post when they are the owners of their land? In some DC offices farmers are even rebuked and insulted. Let the Government invite them and discuss the issue of land acquisition on table which would pave a way for mega highways in Srinagar and Jammu
Sajad Hussain Mir
Alamgari Bazar, Srinagar
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