SRINAGAR: In a significant step towards rehabilitation and empowerment, the Jammu and Kashmir government has confirmed that displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), who settled in the region decades ago, have been granted full ownership rights over the land allotted to them.
In a written reply to a question raised during the ongoing Assembly session, the Revenue Department stated that displaced families from the 1947, 1965, and 1971 upheavals have already been conferred ownership rights under various government orders and legislative frameworks.
According to the department, landmark decisions including Cabinet Order No. 578-C of 1954, the Agrarian Reforms Act of 1976, and government orders issued in 1966 and more recently in 2024 have paved the way for regularizing refugee colonies and settling ownership issues. These initiatives ensured that families who were allotted evacuee land, state land, and residential quarters were covered under revised ceiling limits in subsequent years, thereby bringing more displaced families under the ambit of legal ownership.
The government also noted that the 2024 orders specifically addressed the transfer of evacuee land and proprietary rights to displaced individuals including West Pakistan Displaced Persons who have consistently maintained recorded possession of their allotted land.
To facilitate the process, the administration has been conducting awareness camps and preparing case files on a fast-track basis. The department reiterated that no eligible beneficiary will be denied their rightful claim.
Officials confirmed that the administration is now in the final stages of the process to grant complete land ownership rights to all such displaced families across Jammu and Kashmir a move seen as a long-pending justice for thousands affected by conflict and displacement.
