'State-land' eviction drive put on hold across Jammu Kashmir: Officials

February 19, 2023 by News Desk

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The state land eviction drive to in Jammu Kashmir has been put on hold, official sources said here.

Unnamed officials quoted by news agency, Service (KNS) said that the higher-ups have directed the concerned officials to put the eviction drive on hold for now as the authorities have been insisting that the poor and landless won’t be touched.

They said the administration is framing a policy to protect small land encroachers and poor and landless people and till that time concern officials have been asked to stop the eviction process.

Notably, the eviction drive to retrieve state land across Jammu Kashmir was initiated after the admin ordered the removal of hundred per cent encroachment over state land.

Though the admin insisted that only the influential and powerful were targetted during the drive, the locals claimed that poor and common Kashmiris and people in Jammu were equally suffering.

The drive evoked massive protests in parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The pro establishment groups from both regions including JKNC، PDP congress staged protests demanding an immediate halt to the drive۔

“To protect the small land grabbers the government is coming up a policy, which will be soon made public to provide relief to small land grabbers and poor people,” KNS quoted the sources as saying۔