Azad seeks to woo voters with free land

SRINAGAR: J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has begun doling out freebies to consolidate the ruling Congress’ vote-bank for a second innings in power.

Last week, the Congress-led government introduced Roshni, a scheme under which farmers will get ownership rights over 21.5 lakh kanals (20 kanals form a hectare) of government land worth Rs16,000 cr, for free.

“The government has decided to give land for free to farmers tilling it for years without ownership rights. This is the biggest gift to them this century from any government,” said Azad.

Of the total land earmarked, 11.5 lakh kanals are in Jammu, while the rest is in Kashmir. “We are charging only Rs100 per kanal as documentation fees for the land transfer,” Azad said.

Explaining the far-reaching benefits of the scheme, he said, “Earlier, if a farmer wanted to avail of a bank loan for an agricultural or a business proposition, he could do so only by mortgaging his land.”

The new scheme, it appears, will allow farmers to apply for loans without having to mortgage their lands.

Opposition National Conference (NC) is, however, not convinced. “Azad sahib is legalising illegally-grabbed land. This is a mockery of law,” said Dr Mehboob Beg, provincial president of the NC.

The move makes sense as rumours are doing the rounds that the Congress may contest the polls alone. “The J&K Congress is confident of forming the government again by contesting the polls alone. The final decision, however, lies with the party high command,” said Abdul Gani Vakil, senior vice-president of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee.