Tanvir Sadiq, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.
| Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
Ruling National Conference (NC) legislator Tanvir Sadiq on Thursday (October 9, 2025) said he has moved a private member’s Bill before the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and sought the restoration and protection of the original Land Grants Act as it existed prior to the changes introduced in 2022.
“The move is intended to safeguard the rights of existing leaseholders, protect local businesses and ensure that government land continues to serve the people of Jammu and Kashmir rather than speculative or non-local interests. Any change in policy must come through the elected Assembly, not through unilateral administrative orders,” MLA Sadiq said.
He said the Bill also sought to protect lawful occupants from eviction, ensure transparent renewals, and prioritize land grants for residents, cooperatives and local entrepreneurs.
The proposed Bill is titled as “The Jammu and Kashmir Land Grants (Restoration and Protection) Bill, 2025”. It aims at repealing the Land Grant Rules 2022 notified during the Lieutenant Governor’s rule in J&K. Under the new rules, those occupants whose leases have ended will not be renewed but to put a fresh auction. It also allows the outsiders to participate in the auction for the first time in J&K. The eviction under the Land Grants Rules 2022 is likely to impact popular tourist destination of Gulmarg, where around 50 leases of hotels and huts have ended by 2018.
“The Bill aims to revive the 1960 framework that governed leases and grants of government land across the Union Territory,” Mr. Sadiq said.
The NC’s Bill came a day after Opposition People Democratic Party (PDP) also introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Land Rights and Regularisation Bill, which proposed to “regularise land holdings of individuals, families, and institutions who have been in continuous possession of land for over 30 years, thereby securing ownership rights, preventing arbitrary evictions, and ensuring social and economic stability across Jammu and Kashmir.”
Published – October 10, 2025 03:35 am IST
