Srinagar: Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday accused the Jammu and Kashmir administration led by Manoj Sinha of importing slums and poverty into the erstwhile state under the pretext of providing housing to homeless people, calling it an attempt to change the demography of the union territory.
“The LG made an announcement about giving land to 1.99 lakh landless people in JK. Doubts and concerns have come to the fore as to who these landless people in Jammu and Kashmir are. According to the figures of the central government placed before Parliament, there are only 19,000 homeless families in Jammu and Kashmir,” PTI reported quoting PDP president as saying.
The statement comes a day after Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said that administration has started providing 150 square yard plots to landless families for the construction of their houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY).
“The rural development department has identified 1.83 lakh families who do not have their own houses. We are working on it. It is a step that will not only provide a house to them but transform their lives,” he had said, claiming that plots to 2,711 landless families across the union territory have already been allotted.
Mufti said it seems to be an attempt to change the demography of Jammu and Kashmir in order to increase the BJP vote bank.
“Who are these two lakh families? Even if there are only five persons per family, it accounts for a population of 10 lakh,” she added.
The former chief minister further asked the government why did it not give five ‘marla’ land to Kashmiri Pandits who have been living in Jammu in one-room sets for the past 30 years.
“There are thousands of Kashmiri Pandits living in Jammu. Did you give them 5 marlas? Why not?” she asked.
The PDP president alleged that Jammu and Kashmir and its resources, including land and jobs, were being treaty as a “war booty”.
“Jammu and Kashmir is a green belt, they are turning it into a slum. Instead of improving the place, they are importing slums and poverty. The good thing is that jammu has started realising the dangers of this move. It will run over Jammu before reaching Kashmir,” she told a gathering of reporters.
