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JAMMU: Former Minister and senior BJP leader Choudhary Sukhnandan Kumar on Thursday demanded the immediate implementation of the recommendations made by the Office of the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, regarding rationalization of Change of Land Use (CLU) charges, calling the present system “deeply discriminatory and unjust to rural landowners.”
Sukhnandan Choudhary, accompanied by Dr Pardeep Mahotra, Media Incharge, J&K BJP, Rakesh Pant, President, J&K Kissan Morcha, and Balbir Kumar DDC & Vice President J&K SC Morcha, was addressing a press conference at the BJP Headquarters, Trikuta Nagar, Jammu.
Addressing the press briefing, Choudhary referred to an official communication dated March 28, 2024, issued by the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, which clearly acknowledges serious discrepancies in the manner CLU charges are being levied by the Jammu Development Authority (JDA).
Choudhary said it was shocking that landowners in far-flung rural areas, where land values are substantially lower, are being forced to pay CLU charges calculated on the highest stamp duty rates of Gandhi Nagar, one of the most expensive localities in Jammu city. Demanding this correction at an earliest, Sukhnandan sought Chief Minister’s intervention into the matter at an earliest. “Get this done in the Cabinet meeting,” Sukhandan suggested CM Omar Abdullah.
“Why should a farmer or a small landowner in a rural village pay CLU charges at par with Gandhi Nagar? This is nothing but economic injustice,” he said. He pointed out that the Divisional Commissioner’s letter categorically states that JDA’s jurisdiction under the Jammu Master Plan–2032 spans both urban and rural areas across Jammu and Samba districts, each having vastly different market and stamp duty rates. Applying a single, highest-value benchmark for the entire region, Choudhary said, “defies logic, fairness and law.”
Quoting the letter, he highlighted that under SO-439 dated 24.12.2021, land valuation should be based on local stamp duty rates, village-wise, as notified under the J&K Preparation and Revision of Market Value Guidelines Rules, 2011—and not on an arbitrary highest-value standard. “The administration itself has admitted that this method is flawed. Then what is stopping them from implementing people-friendly policy?” Choudhary asked.
He warned that the current practice is placing an unfair financial burden on rural residents, discouraging lawful development and pushing people towards distress and litigation. The senior BJP leader urged the Housing and Urban Development Department and the JDA to immediately adopt the Divisional Commissioner’s recommendation and ensure that CLU charges are fixed strictly on local stamp duty rates, bringing long-overdue relief to rural landowners.
“This is not a political issue; it is an issue of justice. The rural population must not be penalised for living outside premium urban localities,” Choudhary asserted. He said the BJP would continue to raise the issue until a transparent, equitable and lawful CLU policy is enforced across Jammu region.
