Non-residents purchased 7 plots of land in J&K so far, MHA tells House

Non-residents purchased 7 plots of land in J&K so far, MHA tells House

All the plots are in Jammu region, says MHA. Non-J&K residents are allowed to purchase land in the Union Territory since Article 370 was scrapped in 2019

Seven plots of land have been purchased in Jammu and Kashmir by persons who are from outside the Union Territory, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed Parliament on December 15.

None of the seven plots is in the militancy-hit Kashmir Valley. All of them were purchased in the Jammu region, the MHA said.

The disclosure was made by Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityananda Rai to a query raised by Community Party of India (CPI) lawmaker from Tripura, Jharna Das Baidya.

 

Baidya had sought to know the status of land purchase in J&K and whether those from outside the UT could purchase land. Adding another sub-question, she asked the home ministry to share details about the purchases made so far.

“As per the information provided by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, a total of seven plots of land have been purchased by persons from outside the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. All the seven plots are located in Jammu division,” said a statement issued by Rai in reponse to her query.

 

The revelation comes four months after the home ministry informed Parliament that two persons from outside J&K have purchased properties in the UT following the abrogation of Article 370, which barred people from outside J&K to buy land or property in the region.

 

Despite the repeal of the law, non-J&K residents are barred from purchasing agricultural land in the UT. A similar restriction has been imposed in a number of hill states and provinces in the North East.