Srinagar, Nov. 20: Busy battling militancy for decades, the Jammu and Kashmir government has woken up to a new problem.

Over one lakh hectares of government land, estimated to be worth Rs 25,000 crore, have been encroached on by the land mafia or bagged by well-connected leaseholders at paltry rents.

The government is now coming out with an ordinance aimed at retrieving the land or selling it outright to the encroachers or leaseholders.

“The state cabinet has cleared the ordinance,’’ law minister Tariq Hameed Qarra said. “It has been sent to the governor for his consent.’’

Chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad put the area encroached on or leased out cheap at 100,000 hectares. “This land is worth Rs 25,000 crore, equivalent to the size of a state five-year plan,” he said.

Hundreds of “influential” people across the state — mostly members of the state’s political elite — have procured leasehold rights over thousands of acres for which they pay a pittance as yearly rent.

The Land Grants (Amendment) Act, 1978, provides for leasing out the state’s land for a maximum of 99 years.

In addition, tens of thousands of hectares have been grabbed. The problem has heightened over the past 17 years with the government focusing mainly on battling insurgency.

Earlier, attempts had been made to check land-grabbing. In 2002, the National Conference government enacted the Vesting of Ownership Act to sell state land to occupants and create resources for electricity generation, but the legislation failed to take off.

In 2004, the People’s Democratic Party-led government amended the act, giving con-cessions to the occupants.

“It was called the Roshni Act and it (again) failed to take off. Only 18 people availed themselves of the scheme,’’ Qarra said. “The problem was that the occupants were getting the land at market value.’’

The encroachments continued, with a fresh survey putting it at around one lakh hectares.

“This time, we are giving several concessions. Those who avail themselves of the scheme within three months will get more concessions compared with those who do it in the following three months,” Qarra said.

“We will retrieve the land in case the occupants do not turn up and there will be penalties, too.’’