SRINAGAR: The traders and hoteliers in Jammu and Kashmir have opposed the new Land Grant rules and questioned its accountability at par with the rest of the country.
In the new Land Grant Rules-2022 notified by the J&K government, all the outgoing lessees (except in the case of subsisting/expired leases for residential purposes) shall immediately handover the possession of the land taken on lease to the government, failing which the outgoing lessee shall be evicted as per the provisions of public premises (eviction of the un-authorized occupant) Act, 1988.
“The lease will not be renewed and would stand determined,” states the new law.
Noted hotelier and chairman of J&K Hoteliers Club Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya said that people have constructed hotels on the property leased to them in the 1980s by spending their earnings.
“For 30 years, the tourism sector was hit by militancy and now when tourists are thronging to Kashmir, the government has come up with this strange law. In other parts of the country, the lease is extended after the expiry of the lease period. The same law should be implemented here,” he said.
According to Chaya, the tourist resort of Gulmarg would have to be closed as all hotels and huts in the resort are on leased land.
“Besides, some hotels in Pahalgam and other tourist destinations are also on lease land,” he said, adding that thousands of people will be rendered jobless. Chaya said the government should not go for re-auction of these properties and instead give it back to the leaseholders after fixing a reasonable amount as a premium, which “all of us already to pay”.
They would be meeting Lt Governor and union ministers to get the new land grants law scrapped, he added.
Lalit Mahajan, president of the Bari Brahmana Industries Association said the new land grant rules would bring a severe blow to the industrial sector in J&K.
“The land had been allotted for 99 years and now their land lease has been cancelled. And for those who have been given land on lease for 40 years, it is clearly mentioned that the lease would again be renewed for 50 years. We don’t understand what the purpose of this law is when everything is going well,” he said.
“If the new law is implemented, it will become a big issue,” Mahajan said, adding if it is not withdrawn then they may have to think of legal options as well.
A young businessman asked why the new land law is not at par with the country. “This law is not prevalent anywhere else”.
“It will have grave consequences for the entrepreneurs. We had a career outside. We left our jobs and returned and set up the units after getting land on lease. If this new law is implemented, then we will be nowhere," he said.
“If they want new investors to come in, they can allot new land to them at various tourist destinations. But why to take us out and give it to somebody else,” he said.
Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Sheikh Ashiq said it would lead to a rise in unemployment. The political parties except BJP have also slammed the new land grant rule terming it “draconian” and “not at par with the country”.