SRINAGAR: PDP Youth President Waheed Ur Rehman Para has launched a scathing attack on the National Conference-led government in Jammu and Kashmir, accusing it of deliberately removing Urdu, one of the region’s official languages, from the ongoing land record digitisation process.
In a series of tweets, Para expressed concern over the latest phase of the digitisation project, which, according to him, is being conducted exclusively in English, while omitting Urdu from the process. He pointed out that this marks a significant departure from historical practices, where Urdu has been the standard language of revenue records across the region.
“NC Govt wherein J&K CM @OmarAbdullah holds the revenue portfolio has ordered yet another round of land record digitisation across Jammu & Kashmir. This time, the process being carried out exclusively in English, with Urdu completely REMOVED, a language that has been integral to our revenue records for generations,” Para posted on X (formerly Twitter), tagging the Chief Minister and other top officials.
He further questioned the government’s intent behind sidelining Urdu, asking, “Why is Urdu, one of J&K’s official languages, being deliberately erased from the new digitisation effort by the NC govt?”
Para also alleged irregularities and inefficiency in the execution of the project, dating back to before the 2024 government formation. According to him, a multi-crore contract was awarded to a private firm, Ramtech, for scanning and digitising land records. While the firm reportedly digitised only Jammu and Srinagar districts over a period of three years, the rest of the districts were allegedly rushed through by overburdened revenue officials in a matter of months.
“Years before the 2024 govt formation, J&K admin allegedly gave a multi-crore land digitisation contract to a company named ‘Ramtech.’ The company scanned every single land document across districts but digitised only Srinagar & Jammu in 3 years. The rest were rushed by overburdened revenue staff in months,” he claimed.
Taking direct aim at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who also holds the revenue portfolio, Para asked why the CM had maintained silence on such critical issues involving public money and cultural identity.
“Why has CM @OmarAbdullah sb maintained silence on this? Where’s the accountability for crores spent? And why is @OmarAbdullah’s govt now erasing Urdu, one of the official languages, from the new digitisation process?” he wrote.
