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kashmir

n May, Jammu and save the stamp duty”. Recently BJP Mahila Morcha However, many argue,
Kashmir (J&K) Govern- However, women em- chief Vijaya Rahatkar said that the abolition of the
ment abolished the powerment in J&K has still her party “will try to give property tax for women
stamp duty for proper- a long way to go. Female more reservation and in- could prove to be a game-
I ties registered in the literacy in J&K is at 56.43 per crease the representation of changer. According to
name of women in an obvi- cent, compared to 76.75 per the women in the civic elec- official data, the property
ous attempt at economic cent for males. Similarly, as tions. Some states, including ownership in the state is
empowerment of women. per J&K’s Economic Survey Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, largely dominated by men.
Five months later, the state report, the state’s sex ratio already follow 50 per cent So, the change in the past
has witnessed dramatic as per 2011 census is 889 reservation for women in five months is remarkable.
increase in the number of females per thousand males panchayats. More property registered
the properties owned by in the name of women will
women. In Srinagar alone, No realty tax for go a long way to empower
more than 3000 properties them.
have been registered in the The abolition of property
name of females. Kashmiri womeN tax for women assumes
This is seen as a redeem- more significance in view of
ing change in a state where the fact that real estate is the
according to government predominant investment
data only 33 per cent How abolition of property tax for women have asset in the Valley. Over the
women in the age group of empowered J&K women, reveals RIYAZ WANI past two decades, as the Val-
15-49 own a house. Similarly, ley has witnessed a growing
just 23 per cent of women
own land. But the new law Registration
is making a remarkable dif-
ference. To save the stamp records in the
duty on the newly bought Valley reveal
property, more and more
people are registering them that every day
in the name of women
Earlier women in the an average of 25
capital cities of Srinagar to 30 properties
and Jammu had to pay 5 per
cent stamp duty on land or worth crores are
estate purchased within registered in the
their municipal limits and
3.5 per cent in rural areas, name of women
compared to men who paid
7 per cent and 5 per cent
respectively. New property urbanization and conse-
registration records in the • home owners Only 33% women And there are other posi- quent spike in real estate
Valley reveal that every between 15-49 own a house in J&K tives too for the J&K women. rates, land and construction
day an average of 25 to 30 For one, women’s participa- of house have become the
properties worth crores tion in the workforce is no preferred investment for
are registered in the name which is lower than the na- longer a taboo. This, in turn, the people. “With people
of women. “It has been an tional average. J&K is among has undermined the cul- now incentivised to register
empowering step,” says Iffat the seven worst states with tural notion of boys being properties in the name of
Ara (not her real name) lowest sex ratio in the coun- the sole earning members. their mothers, wives and
from downtown Srinagar. try: Haryana (866), Uttar But this cultural openness daughters, this will lead to
“We had bought a kanal of Pradesh (869), Punjab (870), has yet to translate into economic empowerment of
land around the time new Uttarakhand (871), Delhi adequate recruitment of women in the state,” Naeem
law was enacted and my (876) and Rajasthan (893). women in the government Akhtar, a minister in the
husband had to register it However, the state has services. Women constitute PDP-BJP government said.
in his own name. But he 33 per cent reservation for only 7.9 per cent in J&K’s
registered it in my name to women at panchayat level. worker population ratio. letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 15 november 2018 27 www.Tehelka.com

27 Kashmir Riyaz.indd 3 02/11/18 11:22 AM