J-K revokes order allowing land lease

“The matter is on hold but it will soon go back to cabinet and we have taken a decision that the land will be leased out to just the state subjects of Jammu & Kashmir,” said Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Minister Dilawar Mir. “However, we won’t stop anybody from entering into joint ventures. But the land lease would be only in the name of people from Jammu & Kashmir.”

He said the decision would be made public soon.

On October 23 last year, the state government invited bids from permanent residents of the state for auction of 27 plots in Leopard Valley (or Dhobighat). These were meant for developing five-star tourist facilities in the state.

What sparked the controversy was an order that followed, putting the administrative secretary in the Tourism Department in charge of authenticating grant of lease to outsiders beginning businesses through joint ventures with people from Jammu & Kashmir.

Legal experts say that this order wasn’t wrong in law per se. Amendments to the state’s land-grant rules, made when Sheikh Abdullah was the chief minister, allow land to be leased to outsiders for up to 99 years, provided his business venture is in partnership with a local who will hold at least 50 per cent of the land.

Experts said that it was also in accordance with the 1978 master plan for tourism, drawn up by Stein Associates of Australia, that is yet to be implemented.

But political parties, mainstream and separatist, do not see it in that light.

The hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani had called a general strike to protest against the order, and National Conference president Omar Abdullah termed it “New Delhi’s plan” to sell land to outsiders.

A senior Congress leader Gani Vakil said it was aimed at weakening Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu & Kashmir.

Some leaders of the People’s Democratic Party, which is in government with the Congress, had planned to submit memorandums in protest.

Tourism developers, however, say that revoking the order would ensure that Jammu & Kashmir would not get the investment it needs.

“This will mean that there can be no joint ventures and good hotel chains will never invest in the state,” said a tourism department official, on condition of anonymity.

Kashmir has no five star hotels. The few good hotels are in Srinagar, some 55 km from Gulmarg, which is expecting some 30,000 international skiers this year.

“We say that the natural slopes in Gulmarg are the best for skiing. With the weather system changing in Europe and less snow there, skiers are looking at Gulmarg as a good option. But when you don’t have hotels of high standards, why would tourists come here?” the official said.