The Jammu and Kashmir government declared all land transfers that took place under the Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, also known as the Roshni Act.

• Initially, 1990 was set as the cutoff for encroachment on state land. It was later revised to 2004 and then subsequently to 2007.
• The government’s target was to earn Rs25000 crore by transferring 20 lakh kanals of state land to existing occupants against payment at market rates
• Later amendment was made which gave ownership rights of agricultural land to farmers occupying it for free, charging them only Rs100 per kanal as documentation fee.

Issues and allegations:

1. Investigations into the land transfers subsequently found that land in Gulmarg had been given over to ineligible beneficiaries.
2. However several government officials illegally possessed and vested ownership of state land to occupants who did not satisfy criteria under the Roshni Act.
3. A report by the CAG estimated that against the targeted Rs 25,000 crore, only Rs 76 crore had been realized from the transfer of encroached land between 2007 and 2013, thus defeating the purpose of the legislation.
4. The report blamed irregularities including an arbitrary reduction in prices fixed by a standing committee and said this was done to benefit politicians and affluent people.
5. In November 2018, the High Court restrained all beneficiaries of the Roshni scheme from selling or carrying out any other transaction in respect of the land transferred to them.

Read Socio Economic And Caste Census

Conclusion:

The people of Jammu and Kashmir have been plagued by war, separatism, and terrorist incidents for a long time, so good governance must be extended to Jammu and Kashmir, thereby reducing the trust deficit between Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India, to increase the people-to-people contact. The SAC has ordered cancellation of all pending applications seeking vesting of ownership rights of state lands to their occupants.