J&K PDP leader and MLA from Pulwama Waheed-Ur-Rehman Parra will introduce a private member bill titled “The J&K (Regularisation and Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Public Land) Bill, 2025” in the upcoming session of the Legislative Assembly.
The proposed legislation aims to legalise and confer property rights upon residents who have constructed their houses on State-owned, common and other land for decades.
“The population of Jammu and Kashmir has significantly increased over the decades due to urbanisation, migration, and socio-economic changes.
Many people have been living in residential structures on state land for years without legal ownership. This bill is a step towards recognising their rights and providing a legal framework for regularisation,” said Parra.
The bill proposes extending ownership or transfer rights to residents who have been in continuous physical possession of such land for over 20 years.
It also seeks to regularise houses built on state land, Kahcharai land, common land, and Shamilat land by the Jammu and Kashmir Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976.
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Furthermore, the bill proposes the registration of these properties, enabling residents to access financial services such as bank loans.
The introduction of the bill is expected to generate significant debate in the Assembly, given the historical and legal complexities surrounding land ownership in Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, in Jammu and Kashmir, several thousand kanals of “Milkiat” land were procured by the government for building roads, railways, and defence and health infrastructure, which is also a reason why the waste population has settled on either state-owned or Kahcharai land.
In the past few years, it has become a significant cause of concern for the people settled on the state land.
The government has also retracted thousands of kanals of land illegally occupied by the people, including some big political names and land mafias operating in J&K.
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