Outsiders have bought only seven plots of land in Jammu and Kashmir since the revocation of key Article 370 provisions and the notification of new land laws, the Union home ministry told Parliament on Wednesday.

It said all the seven plots were located in Jammu division. Ministry sources suggested that the fear of militancy was deterring Indians from outside the region from buying land in the Union Territory.

“As per the information provided by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, a total of seven plots of land have been purchased by persons from outside the UT (Union Territory) of Jammu and Kashmir,” junior home minister Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

Articles 370 and 35A barred anyone apart from permanent residents from owning land in Jammu and Kashmir. After the scrapping of the special status and statehood in August 2019, a central notification was issued last year allowing Indian citizens from outside Jammu and Kashmir to buy non-agricultural land and secure jobs in the new Union Territory.

The notification had kindled fears that the ruling dispensation planned to change the Muslim-majority character of Kashmir by settling outsiders there. The notification eventually triggered opposition also in Jammu, and across faiths, with residents fearful that outsiders would take their jobs and land.

On Wednesday, Union home ministry sources said that despite the Centre’s boasts about having made it possible for any Indian to buy land in the region, people from the rest of India had shown little interest in buying property in Jammu and Kashmir.

“There is uncertainty in Kashmir because of militancy. The Centre’s earlier claim that the changes made to Article 370 would end militancy in Kashmir has fallen flat. No one wants to buy property in troubled areas,” an official said, requesting anonymity.

Last year’s notification was not extended to Ladakh, which was carved up as a separate Union Territory when Jammu and Kashmir lost its statehood.