Former Chief Minister and President Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti has termed the Governor administration’s order of revoking Zero Stamp duty for women as Undemocratic, stating that the decision taken by an elected government in the state cannot be scarped by the present dispensation.
“There has to be a limit to how far the Governor’s Administration can go. It needs to draw a line for its actions,” Mehbooba said in a statement issued here.
She said that her government abolished stamp duty on the sale of property registered in the name of females in the state with an objective to empower women and to improve their social status.
Mehbooba said that the asset ownership in the state is largely dominated by men and there are only 23 percent women in the state having land ownership while as mere 33 percent women in JK own a house.
However, said Mehbooba, soon after the stamp duty for women was scrapped by her government last year, properties in thousands were registered in the name of women.
“The decision had come in praise at the national as well as at the international level as it sought to empower women in the real sense by making them stakeholders in real estate and family property. The revocation of this order by the Governor administration makes no sense at all. I demand that the earlier order should be immediately restored,” Mehbooba said.
The former Chief Minister added that women in Jammu and Kashmir have been victims of conflict since decades and the measure taken for their economic and social boost should not have been revoked in such ruthless way by the present administration. She added that the Governor rule is a transitory arrangement and the present dispensation should avoid disrupting the existing laws and procedures in the state.
Meanwhile, former finance minister Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari has censured the government decision of revoking Zero Stamp duty for women in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued here, Bukhari said: “The notification issued by the Governor led administration on January 25, 2019, has justified its decision taken in the public interest. But my question is how can an anti-people decision be taken under the garb of public interest?”
The former finance minister said that the Governor led administration must go through the contours of the cabinet decision which had resulted into the abolition of stamp duty on the sale of property registered in the name of females in the state.
“The Zero Stamp duty decision was taken by the cabinet to improve the socio-economic condition of females in Jammu and Kashmir and the same was applauded by one and all in the country,” Bukhari remarked.
He demanded urged the Governor to immediately rescind this order in the interest of public and especially for the female folks of the state who so far have been suffering for not being direct stakeholders in real estate and their family properties.
