Hike in property registration under women's name in J&K

There has been a surge in the registration of properties in the name of women in Jammu and Kashmir since May when the state government abolished stamp duty for land and real estate purchases by the females.

Official figures reveal that over 3000 properties have been registered in Srinagar alone in the name of females since the government decided to waive off stamp duty if the property is registered in the name of a female member of a family.

At sub-registrar city’s (Srinagar) office, on an average 25 to 30 cases are received every working day, where properties worth crores are registered in the name of women. “The number of women buying properties is increasing with time. Initially, in a day we would get 10 to 15 cases but now it is 30 cases a day and we expect the number to grow in coming months,” an official dealing with property registration cases at the court said.

The decision was taken by the previous PDP-BJP government “as a step to empower women in the state which may help them to own more immovable assets.” Earlier women had to pay 5% stamp duty on land or estate purchased within the municipal limits and 3.5 per cent in rural areas, compared to men who paid 7% and 5% respectively.

While announcing the decision former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had said, “Women in J&K own bare minimum immovable assets even after contributing the maximum to the society. This incentive will encourage families to register their properties in the name of their sisters, daughters, wives and mothers.”

As per 2011 census, there are 859 females per 1000 males in J&K and the female literacy rate is 58.01 % compared to 76.75% for men. Official figures reveal that asset ownership in the state is largely dominated by men with approximately 33% women in the 15-49 age group owning a house while only 23% having land ownership.