04-05-2008, 12:18 PM
Army to pay 500% more rent in J&K
5 Apr 2008, 0324 hrs IST,TNN
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NEW DELHI: The Union government on Friday announced a big hike in rental rates of the land and orchards occupied by the army in Jammu & Kashmir, in line with recommendations of an expert panel set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after such demands were raised by state politicians.
The hike ranges from 200% to 500% for different categories of land and will remain in force for five years. "The measures, taken at defence minister A K Antony's initiative, will provide succour to the people in J&K, who will now get realistic payments for their land," said defence ministry spokes-person Sitanshu Kar.
Over one-third of the 1.13-million strong army is deployed in J&K to guard the volatile Line of Actual Control as well as undertake counter-insurgency operations in the hinterland.
The expert panel, incidentally, has ruled out any large-scale troop reduction in J&K at this stage but called for "relocation and reconfiguration" of security forces deployed within the state to make them "less obtrusive" and ease the lives of civilians there.
The rental hikes will help the UPA government placate People's Democratic Party of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, a coalition partner of the Congress in the state government, which has raised the pitch for moving soldiers out of horticulture land, orchards, government and private buildings in the state.
Under the new measures, for class-I category of irrigated land, the rates have been increased from Rs 1,125 to Rs 3,381 per kanal (around one-eight of an acre) per annum. The government, in turn, will pay Rs 4,087 per kanal per annum, instead of the existing Rs 1,125, for "irrigated double-cropped land".
A substantial hike has been given for use of land having fruit bearing orchards, where the rents have been hiked up to Rs 10,000 per kanal per annum from the existing Rs 1,575. For land falling under Jammu and Srinagar municipal corporations, Poonch municipal council and Srinagar and Jammu cantonment areas, the rates have been increased from Rs 6,750 to Rs 33,750 per kanal per annum.
For the land falling under municipal councils, the rentals will now be Rs 16,875 instead of Rs 3,357, and Rs 13,500 instead of Rs 2,700 for those under municipal committees.
For the class-II category of irrigated land, the rates have been increased from Rs 1,125 to Rs 3,200, and for the unirrigated" category, the new rate has been fixed at Rs 1,390 against the present Rs 563 per kanal per annum. In the case of "uncultivable" land, the rentals have been increased from Rs 413 to Rs 895.
5 Apr 2008, 0324 hrs IST,TNN
Print Save EMail Write to Editor
NEW DELHI: The Union government on Friday announced a big hike in rental rates of the land and orchards occupied by the army in Jammu & Kashmir, in line with recommendations of an expert panel set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after such demands were raised by state politicians.
The hike ranges from 200% to 500% for different categories of land and will remain in force for five years. "The measures, taken at defence minister A K Antony's initiative, will provide succour to the people in J&K, who will now get realistic payments for their land," said defence ministry spokes-person Sitanshu Kar.
Over one-third of the 1.13-million strong army is deployed in J&K to guard the volatile Line of Actual Control as well as undertake counter-insurgency operations in the hinterland.
The expert panel, incidentally, has ruled out any large-scale troop reduction in J&K at this stage but called for "relocation and reconfiguration" of security forces deployed within the state to make them "less obtrusive" and ease the lives of civilians there.
The rental hikes will help the UPA government placate People's Democratic Party of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, a coalition partner of the Congress in the state government, which has raised the pitch for moving soldiers out of horticulture land, orchards, government and private buildings in the state.
Under the new measures, for class-I category of irrigated land, the rates have been increased from Rs 1,125 to Rs 3,381 per kanal (around one-eight of an acre) per annum. The government, in turn, will pay Rs 4,087 per kanal per annum, instead of the existing Rs 1,125, for "irrigated double-cropped land".
A substantial hike has been given for use of land having fruit bearing orchards, where the rents have been hiked up to Rs 10,000 per kanal per annum from the existing Rs 1,575. For land falling under Jammu and Srinagar municipal corporations, Poonch municipal council and Srinagar and Jammu cantonment areas, the rates have been increased from Rs 6,750 to Rs 33,750 per kanal per annum.
For the land falling under municipal councils, the rentals will now be Rs 16,875 instead of Rs 3,357, and Rs 13,500 instead of Rs 2,700 for those under municipal committees.
For the class-II category of irrigated land, the rates have been increased from Rs 1,125 to Rs 3,200, and for the unirrigated" category, the new rate has been fixed at Rs 1,390 against the present Rs 563 per kanal per annum. In the case of "uncultivable" land, the rentals have been increased from Rs 413 to Rs 895.