PrashantNews
The Uttarakhand cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to a tough land law to control unbridled purchase of agriculture land in the hill state.
Barring Haridwar and Udhamsingh Nagar districts, the new land law will be applicable in rest of the 11 districts of the state, Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bahuguna said. “Since both Haridwar and Udhamsingh Nagar districts are industrial areas, we have exempted them from the new land purchase law,” Bahuguna said.
The bill would be tabled in the ongoing budget session of the Vidhan Sabha in Dehradun, Parliamentary Minister Prem Chand Agarwal said.
“Today, the cabinet has approved a strict land law while fully respecting the long-standing demand of the people of the state and their sentiments. This historic step will protect the resources of the state, cultural heritage and the rights of the citizens, as well as play an important role in maintaining the original identity of the state,” Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on X after the cabinet meeting.
“Our government is fully committed to (safeguard) the interests of the people and we will never let their trust break. This decision makes it clear that we will make every possible effort to protect our state and culture. Certainly, this law will also help in maintaining the original form of the state,” the CM said.
With the issue hotting up in Uttarakhand, thousands of people have been demanding restoration of tough land laws and making 1950 as the cutoff date for the domicile certificates. The people have also held a series of public rallies in this regard in Dehradun and other parts of the hill state.
Strong land laws were relaxed during the tenure of the erstwhile Trivendra Singh Rawat government. Rawat had taken a decision to relax land laws in his bid to boost the industrialization process in the state.
Mohit Dimiri, a social activist said Uttarakhand will continue to fight till their all demands including 1950 as the cutoff date for domicile are met.
Dimiri said the government must restrict the purchase of land to 250 sq meter only in the state.
In 2003, the Congress government framed a law where the government’s permission was necessary for purchase of more than 500 square meters of land. Later the Khanduri government restricted the provision to 250 sq meter only in 2007.
Meanwhile, the state government has already set up a committee headed by the chief secretary to look into the domicile issue.