The Modi Government and the J&K administration have finally opened the Land and Housing for every citizen of India. They have recently held a first-of-its-kind real estate summit in Jammu to encourage people from across the country to buy land, or a second home, in Jammu and Kashmir.
Outsiders – those not classified as ‘permanent residents’ – had earlier been barred from purchasing or owning land but this was changed after the Modi Government scrapped Article 370 in August 2019, thereby removing special status for J&K.
This event was jointly organized by the Union Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs and the J&K administration, the Jammu and Kashmir Real Estate Summit (2021) was held today. Officials said 39 MoUs, or Memorandum of Understandings, were signed; 19 dealt with construction of residential homes.
The Center hailed this as a “historical transformation in J&K”. The government has changed laws to allow external investment in J&K – including the purchase of non-agricultural land.
Lt. Governor Sinha has said a similar event will be held in Srinagar in May next year. He said that “Under the new J&K Development Act, the term ‘being a permanent resident of the State’ as a criterion has been omitted, paving the way for investors outside J&K to invest,” the agenda for today’s conference said.
As expected, the local political parties have accused the Modi government of “putting J&K up for sale”. This decision triggered harsh criticism from opposition parties, who said the land would be used to settle non-locals in the Jammu and Kashmir.
