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U’khand panel to back laws to discourage non-natives from buying land in hill areas, say sources

Sources said draft report also recommends curtailing rights of DMs to allocate land, capping land size for industrial purposes in select areas of Uttarakhand, and doing away with the 2018 amendment.

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Dehradun: After Himachal Pradesh, the Uttarakhand government could soon bring a law to discourage non-natives from purchasing land in the Himalayan state. A special committee on land law constituted by CM Pushkar Singh Dhami has finalised its report that advocates against land ownership rights for non-natives, ThePrint has learned.

While committee members refused to share the contents of the draft report, well-placed sources familiar with it said the draft report incorporates harsh provisions aimed at discouraging non-domiciles from purchasing land in Uttarakhand’s hill regions. 

According to sources, the draft report favours a complete ban on land ownership rights for non-natives in hill areas of the state. The committee will instead recommend leasing out land in the hills to non-natives in order to keep the ownership rights of locals intact, sources added.

“Report has been finalised. It will be formalised on 23 August and submitted to the government once the CM gives time for the meeting. Report will be submitted to the CM before this month’s end,” Subhash Kumar, chairman of the committee and former state chief secretary, told ThePrint

Asked about the recommendations in the draft report, Kumar said that it is “against the protocol to divulge contents of the report but all efforts have been made to keep the ethos of the mandate given to the committee intact”.

The committee’s prime goal, he said, was to “keep land ownership rights of the state’s natives intact, without affecting development of the state”. 

Kumar added that the committee prepared the draft report after undertaking a thorough study of the state’s existing land laws and the “need for change in the interest of the people of Uttarakhand”. 

Officials who did not wish to be named said the draft report also advocates capping land size for a single industrial unit at 12.5 acres (1 acre equals 4,047 square metres) in select areas of the state. 

It speaks in favour of allotment of land for industrial purposes along the Himachal Pradesh pattern and abolition of all past tax concessions granted to industries in the state. According to Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms 1972, anyone seeking to purchase land outside municipal areas for setting up an industrial unit is required to get a clearance from requisite authorities — this clearance is granted only after the authority is satisfied about the applicant’s ability to use the land for the stated purpose.

Other important recommendations made in the draft report include curtailing land allocation rights of district magistrates and quashing provisions that allow change in usage of agricultural land.


Also Read: Why Uttarakhand wants to revive 20 hydro-electric projects and dump 24 others


Scrapping 2018 provision

Moreover, the draft report recommends scrapping the provision made by former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat’s government in 2018 that lifted restrictions on non-domiciles looking to buy local agricultural land for industrial purposes.

Prior to Dhami taking the reins of the state in July 2021, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand led by then CM Rawat had, in 2018, amended the law to remove the 12.5 acre upper limit on purchase of land in hill areas of the state for industrial purposes — only for medical, health and academic business activities. 

This was done by the introduction of the Uttarakhand Amendment Act, 2018, to add two sections — 143 (A) and 154 (2) — to the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950.

Now, the land law committee’s draft report categorically speaks in favour of doing away with the 2018 amendment, sources said.

Asked about the recommendations in the draft report, BJP leader and a member of the committee, Ajendra Ajay said he is “bound not to reveal the contents of the report”.

“But it’s true that interests of the land owners in the hill areas will be secured in every possible way. This was also done in view of rampant cases of non-Uttarakhand natives buying lands on hills at throw away prices resulting in demographic shifts in several places,” Ajay told ThePrint.

He too, confirmed that the draft report “is ready” and “will be handed out to the government after the last meeting of the committee Monday”.

Ajay was among the BJP leaders in Uttarakhand who ran a campaign demanding a state-centric law similar to the one in Himachal Pradesh to discourage sale and purchase of land in hill areas of the state by non-natives. He had even written to CM Dhami in July 2021, stating that purchase of agricultural land by non-domiciles had led to “demographic changes” in parts of the state. The BJP leader had even asked the state government to “declare the entire hill region of the state as a special area, ban construction of religious places of a particular community and make special provision for sale and purchase of land” in select areas of the state.

Dhami had then directed the state home department and Director General of Police (DGP) to look into the matter and present a report. However, according to officials in the home department, no formal report was prepared and feedback was instead conveyed to the chief minister during the course of multiple meetings.

It was after this deliberation that CM Dhami constituted a special committee to study Uttarakhand’s existing land laws and present a report with recommendations in this regard.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)


Also Read: Why Uttarakhand govt is cracking down on ‘illegal’ mazars, mosques, temples & churches in forests


 

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