Month: February 2023

The streets of Kashmir again seem to have become the centre of political battles, however, this time it is the pro-establishment groups that are coming to the streets time and again for their voices to be heard. Days after the political tumult over eviction drives ended in the valley after the administration "temporarily halted" the drive in Kashmir, the latest order that has created an uproar in Kashmir is the admin's order to impose property taxes in Jammu Kashmir. On Saturday, People's Democratic Party hit the streets demanding a rollback of the order which called for an imposition of property tax in municipal areas from April 1. The tax rates will be 5% of taxable annual value for residential properties and 6% for commercial properties, it stated. In a statement, the party sai...

The LG- led administration said that it has extended Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)/ crop insurance scheme to the farmers of all 20 districts of Jammu Kashmir. Speaking at the launching event of the extension of PMFBY at SKUAST Jammu, Lt Governor said that the scheme would provide comprehensive coverage against crop losses arising out of natural calamities and unseasonal rains. Launched in the year 2016, PMFBY aims at supporting sustainable production in agriculture and was earlier available to only four districts of the UT. “The initiative will stabilize the income of farmers; encourage them to adopt innovative practices with sufficient insurance protection from climatic catastrophe. I urge all the farmers to avail the benefits of PM Fasal Bima Yojna,” Lt Governor said....

Amid widespread criticism, the Jammu Kashmir admin on Saturday said that imposing property tax is aimed at ensuring better facilities for the people. Addressing a news conference today at TRC meeting hall here, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir V K Bidhuri, who was accompanied by SMC Commissioner, Athar Aamir Khan clarified that 1/3rd of the population are already exempted from the property tax as their property area is less than 1000 square feet. He added that the Jammu and Kashmir is last in the country where the property tax is being imposed. “Unlike other places, the property tax is very less. The property tax will be collected from those whose houses are built at more than 1500 square feet,” he said. He also said that the tax to be paid only once in a year. He added that the c...

Police on Friday said to have arrested eight accused persons in a case related to the death of a juvenile in Badshah Nagar area of Srinagar on February 15, 2023. “On 15/02/2023 Police Station Chanapora received an information that some shopkeepers of Badshah Nagar had apprehended some suspects from Sky Park, an under construction building,” a police spokesperson in a statement said. Upon this a police party rushed to the spot and found the shopkeepers had apprehended one juvenile (name withheld). While questioning the locals and shopkeepers disclosed that four persons were found on the rooftop of the said building and the other three had fled away from the-spot, police spokesperson said. “The building premises were searched by Police along with the locals /Shopkeepers and one juve...

Unknown miscreants chopped down more than five hundred apple trees in the Herpora area of Moman in south Kashmir's Arwani in Anantnag district, causing distress among the local residents. Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, the local residents said that on Saturday morning some residents of the area visited their orchard only to find their apple trees had been chopped off. The residents raised alarm and soon the residents found that many more trees had been chopped off completely while the branches of several other trees were cut down by the miscreants. The locals said that the apple orchards are their only source of livelihood. "Dozens of families are dependent on these trees and the chopping down of the trees has created tremendous panic among the locals," they said. Meanwhile, the ...

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Friday said that in Jammu Kashmir, people use internet data, buy I-phones and pay to play videos he wonders why there was a hue and cry over imposition of nominal property tax. Sinha said that the money collected from property tax will be used to development and welfare of the people. Addressing a function at Jammu where LG extended Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana ( PMFBY) to the farmers of all 20 districts of J-K, the LG said that the administration hardly gets the power tariff and water bills paid by the people. “In J-K, people pay to use internet data, buy I-phones and play videos, I wonder why there is hue and cry over imposition of property tax,” the LG said, adding that there will be a push to the GDP in J-K once property tax will be collecte...

All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has ridiculed the eviction drive in Jammu Kashmir stating that the drive is not only illegal but the admin has been misleading the people of India about it. In a press release issued to The Kashmiriyat, AIKS said, The Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha and his administration are in an eviction spree using bulldozers against hundreds of poor farmers and petty producers in various districts, who are being forcibly evicted from their homes and cultivating land using the pretext of a revenue order claiming to retrieve government land from so-called ‘illegal occupants’. The farmers are protesting across J-K. The farmers’ organisations are demanding the Manoj Sinha led administration to stop such actions detrimental to the farmers and landless people ...