SRINAGAR: The Petition Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly has raised serious concerns over the steep increase in rental charges and the diversion of Srinagar’s community halls from their intended public use, calling for urgent corrective measures. Meeting at the Assembly Secretariat in Srinagar under the chairmanship of Pirzada Farooq Ahmad Shah, the panel heard from legislators, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) officials, and petitioners about the impact of these changes on underprivileged and lower-middle-class residents.
Shah, who as a former Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar had overseen the construction of several such halls using both government allocations and Members’ Constituency Development Funds, recalled that they were built primarily to provide affordable venues for the poor and to reduce the disruption caused by tent structures on public roads, particularly in areas like Akhrajpora and Goripora. Initially, usage charges were fixed at 5,000, but the SMC’s unilateral hike in rents had triggered public resentment and petitions to the Assembly.
Legislator Salman Sagar stressed that the first such hall was constructed in Khanyar in 1989 solely for public benefit and not as a source of municipal revenue. Over the years, similar facilities had been built across constituencies, especially during periods of unrest, with funding from legislators’ CDF allocations. Sagar criticised the use of these halls for SMC administrative purposes, such as ward offices, saying the corporation should instead request separate government land. He demanded the immediate withdrawal of the rent enhancement order.
Member Mushtaq Guroo highlighted that some halls had been repurposed entirely, including the Bagh-e-Mehtab facility converted into a public library and the Mehjoor Nagar hall turned into a primary school. Such conversions, he said, had deprived local communities of vital spaces for weddings and other gatherings. He also pointed out that the Natipora hall had remained incomplete for years, with 90 percent of work finished but the remaining portion pending.
The committee heard from Majid, chairman of the Housing Colony Bagh-e-Mehtab Committee, who argued that the marriage hall there, built under various development plans and equipped with halls, guest rooms and catering facilities, had been intended exclusively for community use. Despite an official decision to hand it over to the SMC, the Library Department had occupied the entire building without proper sanction. Majid said a central library should be located in an accessible part of the city, not in a peripheral neighbourhood like Bagh-e-Mehtab.
SMC Commissioner informed the panel that households in the Antyodaya Anna Yojana category already received a 50 per cent rent concession, while middle-class families were eligible for a 25 per cent reduction. However, Sagar responded that the poorest residents rarely used these halls, with the real impact of the hikes being felt by the lower-middle-class segment.
The meeting concluded with three key follow-up actions: the SMC will hold a joint meeting with all Srinagar MLAs, and possibly civil society representatives, to discuss rental and usage policies; the Commissioner will carry out an on-site inspection in Khanyar to address the library dispute; and the case of the Bagh-e-Mehtab hall will be examined in light of the petitioner’s concerns.
