Shillong, July 6: The J&K government has responded to former Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s claims regarding the allotment of land to the homeless in the Union Territory (UT).
Mufti, in a media statement on Wednesday, referred to the 2011 census data which stated that there were only 19,047 homeless individuals in J&K. In contrast, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha had announced that 1.45 lakh landless people had been given 5 Marlas each to build their homes.
In a detailed rebuttal to Mufti’s allegations, the government clarified, “PMAY (Grameen) Phase-1 commenced on April 1, 2016, during which 2,57,349 cases of houseless individuals were identified in J&K based on the SECC 2011 data. After verification by Gram Sabhas, 1,36,152 cases were sanctioned in J&K under the overall commitment of the Prime Minister for ‘Housing for all by 2022′.
“The Government of India provides Rs 1.30 lakh per house as assistance under the scheme, with a minimum prescribed house size of 1 marla” an official statement read.
“From January 2018 to March 2019, the government conducted the Awaas+ survey to identify beneficiaries who claimed to have been left out in the 2011 SECC data. The data collected through the Awaas+ survey was used to bridge the gap between the overall target and eligible beneficiaries from the SECC Permanent Wait List (PWL). PMAY Phase-II (AWAS Plus) Grameen, based on a survey conducted in 2018-19 pan India, recorded 2.65 lakh houseless cases in J&K. However, J&K was given a target of only 63,426 houses. These houses were sanctioned in 2022” the statement read. This phase of the scheme will conclude on March 31, 2024.
“Due to J&K’s exemplary performance in sanctioning and completing houses, on May 30, 2023, an additional 1,99,550 PMAY AWAS PLUS houses were sanctioned as a special dispensation to ensure housing for all 2.65 lakh houseless individuals on the PWL2019” it read.
“The survey was conducted based on clear guidelines using the following criteria: 1. All houseless individuals, 2. Individuals living in zero, one, or two-room kachha houses, and 3. Multi-layered prioritization as defined in section 4 of the scheme guidelines. If individuals on the waiting list don’t possess land or clear land titles, or have land where construction is not permitted, they couldn’t be sanctioned houses, even if they were on the permanent waiting list’ the government claims.
Based on the field-level survey, out of the total 1,99,550 cases, 2711 cases were identified where individuals did not have clear land titles. These cases fall into the following categories:
- People residing on state land,
- People residing on forest land,
- People residing in Rakhs and Farms land, where construction is not permitted,
- People occupying custodian land, and
- People allotted land for agriculture purposes near Dachigam Park, where construction is not permitted.
- Any other eligible cases without available land for construction.
“As the government cannot allocate houses to individuals who do not possess land, a policy decision was made to provide 5 marlas of land to these 2711 cases so that they can obtain houses” an official spokesperson said.