Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, in a high level meeting held at his official residence here today, directed the concerned officials to take concrete action in the direction of giving legal land ownership rights to the displaced families from East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) settled in various districts of the state.
CM Yogi said that this is not just a matter of transfer of land, but an opportunity to honour the life struggle of thousands of families who took shelter in India from across the country’s borders and have been waiting for resettlement for decades. He directed the officials to treat these families with compassion and due respect. It is the moral responsibility of the government.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister was apprised that thousands of families who were displaced from East Pakistan after partition between 1960 and 1975 were resettled in Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bijnor and Rampur districts of Uttar Pradesh. In the initial years, these families were settled in different villages through transit camps and land allotment was also done, but due to legal and archival discrepancies, most of them have not been able to get valid landholding rights till date.
The Chief Minister was apprised that in many districts including Janpad Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bijnor, families who migrated from East Pakistan were settled years ago and agricultural land was also allotted to them.
However, due to several administrative and legal complications like archival errors over time, registration of the land in the name of the Forest Department, pending process of conversion or no actual possession of the land, these families have not been able to get the legal land ownership rights so far. In some places, migrants from other states have also been settled, who are still deprived of land ownership.
As per the updated status, while families who have been farming for years in many villages have built permanent houses on the land, their names are still not recorded in the revenue records. On the other hand, in some villages even today there is virtually no existence of the families that were settled there earlier. Many families have occupied the land without following the legal process, which is causing the problem.
CM Yogi said that keeping in mind the cases where land was allotted under the Government Grant Act in the past, new options should be explored in the current legal framework, as this Act has been repealed in 2018. This sensitive effort can prove to be a door opener to a new hope and a dignified life for the displaced families who have been neglected for decades. It should be seen as’ social justice, humanity and national responsibility “and not just rehabilitation.