New Delhi: The Union Government notifying a new land to integrate the Union Territory with the rest of the country. As per the new law the residents of any state will purchase the urban land and immovable property in J & K.

Earlier, only residents of Jammu and Kashmir were allowed to purchase land in the state. But the Centre’s move in August last year, scrapping the state’s special powers under the Article 370 of the Constitution and its bifurcation into two Union Territories, paved the way for the change.

In a gazette notification, the Centre has omitted the phrase “permanent resident of the state” from Section 17 of the Jammu and Kashmir Development Act, which deals with the disposal of land in the Union Territory. Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha in a press conference on Tuesday clarified that the new law does not apply to agricultural land. He also said that “I want to say this forcefully and with full responsibility that agricultural land has been kept reserved for farmers; no outsider will come on those lands”.

“The industrial areas that we have defined — we want that like the rest of the country, industries too come here so that Jammu and Kashmir also develops and employment is generated,” he said. The move, however, set off a stream of protests from the local political parties.

Former Chief Minister Umar Abdullah in a tweet said “Unacceptable amendments to the land ownership laws of JK. Even the tokenism of domicile has been done away with when purchasing non agricultural land and transfer of agricultural land has been made easier. JK is now up for sale and poorer small land holding owners will suffer”.

The Centre has brought uniformity in land laws throughout India, with the new notification; three central laws will come into effect in Jammu and Kashmir. Twelve state laws have been repealed and 14 amended or substituted, said a senior officer in Home Ministry.