Cabinet approves Land Law Amendment Bill
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 19 Feb: A supposedly strong land law amendment bill was approved at a Cabinet Meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Since the Assembly session is in progress, no briefing was held in this regard, though Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the ministers themselves shared this information. Dhami claimed that fully respecting the long-standing demand of the people of the state and their sentiments, the cabinet has approved the strict land law.
Following the approval of the new land law draft by the Dhami cabinet, it is now likely to be placed in the House during the ongoing budget session. It may be recalled that, both, the ruling and opposition parties in the state have been demanding the land law for a long time. The BJP had mentioned it in its election manifesto and had also formed a committee under the chairmanship of former Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, whose recommendatory report the Dhami government has approved.
Very importantly, all the provisions incorporated by the state government earlier in 2018 have been abolished in the new law. It may also be pertinent to share here that except for Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, persons from outside the state will now not be able to buy horticultural and agricultural land in the 11 other districts of Uttarakhand.
The new law also provides that consolidation and settlement will be done to ensure proper use of land in hill areas and to prevent encroachment. Now, the District Magistrate will not be able to personally give permission for land purchase. In all cases, the process will be done through the portal created by the government.
A portal will be created for land purchase in the state, where any purchase made by a person from outside the state will be recorded. It will be mandatory for people from outside the state to provide an affidavit to buy land, so that fraud and irregularities can be prevented.
All District Magistrates will have to submit reports related to land purchase regularly to the Revenue Council and the government which will take the decision on the applications for purchase of land.
The new law also provides that the land falling under the municipal body limits will also be used only as per the prescribed land use. If any person uses the land against the rules, then that land will be vested in the government.
The government claims that there will be multiple benefits of the new proposed law and that the new law will stop indiscriminate land purchase by outsiders in Uttarakhand. It also claims that there will be better management of land in hill areas, which will benefit the residents of the state more as a result of this law and that there will be a check on the unnatural increase in land prices, making it easier for the natives of the state to buy land. The government also claims that it would now have more control over land purchase and sale, which will prevent irregularities.
