PDP's Waheed Para submits 'anti-bulldozer' land bill in J&K Assembly

People's Democratic Party legislator Waheed Para has submitted a private member’s bill for the upcoming assembly session in Jammu & Kashmir seeking property rights for people who have been living on state land for decades.

The legislator from Pulwama in southern Kashmir has termed the proposed legislation an anti-bulldozer bill that will save homes and shelters of people living on state land, common land or any other land for several decades but for which they don't have the property rights.

Para said the proposed legislation will not only secure people’s homes but also reduce the fear of eviction. He calls it an 'anti-bulldozer' bill that will save people from harrasment and forced evictions from the land they were living on for decades.


The bill, titled The Jammu and Kashmir (Regularisation and Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Public Lands) Bill, 2025, will be presented during the J&K assembly session beginning on March 3 in the winter capital Jammu. The PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has also sought support from the ruling NC, the opposition BJP and other parties to support this Bill and two other Bills the party has submitted for this session.

"Consecutive government/public offices failed to prevent illegal and unauthorised construction of residential houses in J&K, resulting in proliferation of residential houses constructed on state land, Kacharia land, common land and Shamilat land (Section 4 of J&K Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976), as such the need of the hour is to take a compassionate decision in regularising the said construction of residential houses across Jammu and Kashmir in the interest of public welfare," read the draft bill.

Para has proposed that the 'resident' under this bill should be a person having valid permanent resident certificate issued by a competent authority under J&K Grant of Permanent Resident Certificate (Procedure) Rules of 1968 and has been in continuous physical possession of property for more than 20 years including his/her legal heirs but does not include tenant, licensee or permissive user.

"Some people are given land in landless schemes but people who are living in their own constructed homes are evicted repeatedly. It’s a law to secure people’s shelters and homes and reduce fear of eviction,” said Para.