Lucknow,

21 July (HS): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in a high-level

meeting on Monday, directed to take concrete action towards granting legal land

ownership rights to the families who had migrated from East Pakistan

(present-day Bangladesh) and settled in various districts of the state. Chief

Minister Yogi said that this is not just a matter of transfer of land, but an

opportunity to honor the life struggle of thousands of families who took refuge

in India from across the country's borders and have been waiting for

rehabilitation for decades. He told the officials that these families should be

treated with sensitivity as well as due respect. This is the moral

responsibility of the government.

Officials

said that after the partition, between 1960 and 1975, thousands of families who

had migrated from East Pakistan were rehabilitated in Pilibhit, Lakhimpur

Kheri, Bijnor and Rampur districts of Uttar Pradesh. In the initial years,

these families were settled in various villages through transit camps and were

also allotted land, but due to legal and documentary discrepancies, most of

them have not been able to get legal land ownership rights till date.

The

Chief Minister was informed that in many districts including Pilibhit,

Lakhimpur Kheri, Bijnor, families displaced from East Pakistan were settled

years ago and agricultural land was also allotted to them. However, due to many

administrative and legal complexities like record errors over time, land being

registered in the name of the forest department, pending transfer process or

not having actual possession of the land, these families have not been able to

get legal land ownership rights till now. At some places, displaced people from

other states have also been settled, who are still deprived of land ownership.

According

to the updated status, on one hand, while in many villages the families who

have been farming for years have built permanent houses on the land, their

names are still not recorded in the revenue records. On the other hand, in some

villages, the families who were settled there earlier actually do not exist

even today. Many families have occupied the land without following the legal

process, which is causing problems.

Chief

Minister Yogi said that keeping in mind those cases where land was previously

allotted under the Government Grant Act, new options should be explored in the

current legal framework, because this Act has been repealed in 2018. The Chief

Minister said that this sensitive effort can prove to be a new hope and open

the door to a dignified life for the displaced families who have been neglected

for decades. This should not be seen as just rehabilitation but as social

justice, humanity and national responsibility.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi