Says 5 malras land to be given to 2711 landless people of UT; close to 2 lakh families to get homes under PMAY; sanction of land, homes not based on religion, caste, Sgr emerging as hub of national, Intl level activities; no restrictions on media for covering Amarnath pilgrimage; Tourist, local movement to be streamlined in next two days; people feeling normalcy in Valley
Srinagar : Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Monday said that foreign tourist arrivals have shown a significant increase in the UT post G-20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar and the figure is set to go up further in the coming months.
He also announced five malras land for the landless families of J&K and stated that almost two lakh homeless families are being provided homes in the UT under Prime Minister’s Awas Yojna (PMAY).
Addressing a press conference at Rajbhawan here, the LG as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that the successful G-20 meeting in Srinagar held on May 22 to May 25 this year is proving to be a game changer for the tourism sector in J&K. “The participants of the G-20 meeting have gone back to their respective countries with a good message. Post G-20 meeting, we have seen a significant increase in the foreign tourist arrivals in J&K. The number is set to go up further in the coming months,” he said.
Pertinently, was the first to report that the first six months of ensuing year has registered 15,000 foreign tourist arrivals after a long gap. Majority of foreign guests are coming from South East Asian Countries.
The LG further said that Srinagar is fast emerging as the hub of international activities. “For the first time, the Indian System of Medicines, Engineer’s Association, Chartered Accountant Association and 18 Supreme Court judges participated in different meetings in Srinagar recently,”
He said that Prime Minister Narendera Modi had announced PM Awas Yojna and J&K couldn’t lag behind. “After discussing the issue at the Administrative Council and with the Revenue and Rural Development department, it was decided that 5 malras land will be given to the landless families of J&K. So far 2711 landless families have been given land and more will be covered shortly. Similarly, as far as the homeless families are concerned, a total of 1, 99,550 families have been identified and till June 21, 1,44000 families have been given sanction while remaining will be covered as well,” he said.
To a query whether West Pak Refugees were covered under the scheme, the LG gave a guarded reply stating that there is no caste and religion being followed in the scheme? “A proper eligibility criteria is being followed. Whosoever is eligible is being covered,” he said. “Providing land to landless and homes to the homeless is a revolutionary step. Once a poor person gets home, he will think of earning a living and sending his children to schools,” the LG said. He said land and homes are being given to the eligible people in their respective Panchayats only. “It is not like someone who is eligible in Anantnag district will be given a home in Samba,” the LG said.
About the Amarnath Yatra, he said that the pilgrimage is going on smoothly on both tracks amid proper security arrangements. “There are 4000 sanitary workers who are deployed for cleanliness of trash,” he said, adding that the one area of concern is traffic management of tourists and local citizens which is being streamlined in next two days. “It is being ensured that locals face least inconvenience,” the LG said. Asked during the VIP movement, people face inconvenience, the LG said that people are feeling the normalcy and in the coming months, more people will feel it. “As I stated, traffic management will be streamlined in the next two days. A pilgrim coming to Kashmir for the first time is not aware of the timing etc and gets stuck in traffic and is stopped by the security forces on ground. So a traffic regulation plan is being worked on that will be implemented in the next two days ,” he said. The LG while replying to a query that there was no restrictions on media for covering Amarnath Yatra.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman in a statement said that in a landmark decision, the Government of Jammu Kashmir has approved a proposal for allotment of 5 Marlas of land each to landless PMAY (G) beneficiaries. The decision was taken by the Administrative Council on 21st June 2023.
“The present allotment restricted to only the left out cases out of Permanent waiting list (PWL) 2018-19, which may later, at the time of launch of next phase of PMAY(G) scheme in 2024-25 be extended to the same categories of landless beneficiaries, who otherwise become eligible for getting housing assistance under PMAY(G) Phase-III. Following categories of Awaas plus beneficiaries will be considered by the Deputy Commissioner concerned for allotment of land under the JK revenue laws: People residing on State land; People residing on Forest land, people presiding in Rakhs and Farms land, where construction is not permitted,” the statement said, adding that “People sitting on Custodian land; and land allotted to displaced people by Government near Dachigam park for agriculture purpose, where construction is not permitted.”
The statement said that any other category of cases who are otherwise eligible for housing but do not have any land available for construction.”
“Jammu Kashmir government is committed to Inclusive development. This move will open up endless opportunities to the poor and downtrodden and with this landmark decision the administration is acknowledging their immense contribution in the task of nation building,” the Lt Governor observed.
An official spokesman in a statement said that Ministry of Rural Development, GoI has on 30th May2023, allocated an additional target of 199550 Houses to UT of J&K for the FY 2023-24 for saturation of the Awaas.
“It has been desired by the Ministry to sanction these houses by 30th June, 2023 and ensure completion by 31st March, 2024. In order to complete the exercise expeditiously, Block Level Camps were organized across the UT from 4th to 10th June, 2023, for obtaining the requisite documents of Households enlisted in AwaasPlus PWL, namely bank details, Aadhaar card, MGNREGA job card, ration card, revenue documents, phone number and a declaration that they have not constructed the house already and they are otherwise eligible under the guidelines of the scheme,” the official spokesman said, adding that “These documents are needed, to ensure registration and sanctioning of houses as per assigned targets on AwaasSoft portal. As on date 144385 houses have been registered and 141371 houses have been sanctioned to eligible households enlisted in Awaas + PWL against the aforementioned target.”
He said that during the field verification of beneficiaries in the aforesaid period of Block Level Camps, it has been reported by the field functionaries that 2711 households enlisted in Awaas + PWL are landless. There are many more, who could not otherwise submit their documents due to various reasons like seasonal migration. If the Government of India extends the timeline, this number is expected to go up by a couple of thousands. Else they will be considered in the next phase of the scheme.
- “PMAY(G) guidelines of Ministry of Rural Development provide for providing land of 25sqmt (Approx one marla) to the landless beneficiaries for construction of PMAY house. But in order to ensure sufficient land availability with them to support their basic living, it has been decided to allot five (05) marlas of land to following categories of persons, who are part of Awaas plus Permanent waiting list (PWL) 2018-19: Land less. Occupying state/forest or any other land, where construction is not permitted,” the spokesman said—(KNO)
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