SRINAGAR: With chief minister Omar Abdullah sitting next to him, Union minister for agriculture and rural development Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday said nearly five lakh people in Jammu and Kashmir did not own a house, and they would be allotted one soon.Addressing a press conference, Chouhan said the allotment of 93% of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in J&K had been completed, and the remaining eligible beneficiaries had been identified. “In a recent survey, five lakh names have been identified as deserving housing. The allotments will be made soon after the verification process,” he said.Under the LG-led administration earlier, Omar had questioned the criteria for identifying the housing scheme beneficiaries in J&K. “Before allotting land, govt must clarify whom it considers ‘homeless’,” he had said in July 2023. He had made it clear that he was opposed to the inclusion of those who came to Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 under this scheme.J&K parties have in the past accused the Centre of attempting to settle ‘outsiders’ in Kashmir.Chouhan emphasised that a developed J&K was crucial to PM Narendra Modi’s vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat’. He praised the state’s initiative, ‘Kisan Khidmat Ghar’ — a one-stop centre providing farmers access to all agricultural services under one roof.The minister said farmers in the UT who had received land allotments from govt but lacked official documentation would be considered for inclusion under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. Govt was also planning to launch the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme soon to ensure that horticulture crops were accurately mapped and included under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana, he added.Chouhan expressed satisfaction with the variety of horticulture crops grown in the region, but also raised a critical issue of imported plant materials often turning out to be infected after two or three years. To address this, a Rs 150-crore Clean Plant Centre would be established in Srinagar under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, he said. “It will focus on clean, disease-free planting material for apples, almonds, walnuts and berries. Private nurseries will also be supported to ensure high-quality, pathogen-free plants are made available to farmers,” he added.Calling ‘saffron’ a symbol of Kashmir’s identity, Chouhan announced that the Centre would establish a tissue culture lab and nursery to boost its production. He said the National Saffron Mission would be revised to suit local conditions, and an expert team of scientists would be formed to improve productivity and reduce losses.