Anti-encroachment drive put on hold in J-K

SRINAGAR — The anti-encroachment drive to retrieve state and Kahcharai land in Jammu and Kashmir has been put on hold, official sources said here.

They told the news agency KNS 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 government is framing a policy to protect small land encroachers, poor and landless people and till that time, concerned officials have been asked to stop the eviction process.

Notably, the eviction drive to retrieve state and Kahcharai land, which has been grabbed by land mafias and influential people, has been going on in J&K for over a month.

As per the officials, a major chunk of land has been retrieved from the illegal encroachers, however, during the drive, some small land grabbers and the poor have also been affected.

“To protect the small land grabbers, the government is coming up with a policy, which will be soon made public to provide relief to small land grabbers and poor people,” they said.

Notably, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha himself made it clear during his speeches on various occasions and even directions have also been passed to officials that the poor won’t be touched during the eviction drive.

He had said the drive is aimed at retrieving land from the land mafia, influential people and officials who have misused their position to grab a significant chunk of state land.