The Hindu : Karnataka News : Land grabbing to be made a punishable offence

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 27, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Land grabbing to be made a punishable offence

Staff Correspondent

Law to be enforced strictly, says Revenue Minister

HUBLI: The State Government is considering making land grabbing and violation of rules regarding purchase of land, construction of layouts and so on a punishable offence, the Revenue Minister, M.P. Prakash, said here on Thursday.

The Government is also contemplating who should be punished in such cases, he told presspersons. Mr. Prakash reiterated that the Government is committed to stopping land grabbing, which, he said, is rampant throughout the State.

The Government is not going to introduce new laws to contain such cases. Whatever rules and notifications are in existence will be adhered to strictly, he clarified. As the first step towards putting a stop to violation of the law, conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural use has been stopped. "We know this step is going to cause inconvenience to the public. But in order put a stop to land grabbing, it has become necessary," Mr. Prakash explained.

From now onwards, whoever wants permission for developing a layout should submit an application to the Deputy Commissioner. He will consult the officials of the department concerned and dispose of the application within 10 days.

The Minister clarified that the Government is not against private companies developing layouts. But it wants them to do it legally. He also made an appeal to the public to give the Revenue Department some time for the system to stabilise, and then some changes can be made in order to help the common man.

The Government plans to recruit 107 tahsildars directly. The proposal will be presented before the Cabinet, he said.

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