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Chandy: UDF against ban on land conversion

Thiruvananthapuram: The United Democratic Front (UDF) has opposed a proposed ban on conversion of agricultural land for housing and other purposes in the draft land use policy released by Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran.

According to Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy, the ban would work against the interests of the common man who would want to own a house. The UDF, he said, favoured a more realistic approach. Clearance to convert a maximum of five cents should be given, he said.

The issue should be viewed in a humanitarian angle, he told The Hindu. The government would end up playing into the hands of the land mafia who were cornering large tracts of land. The government, he said, was turning a blind eye to this.

The UDF welcomed the proposal in the draft policy to recover government land now in possession of private hands. But the Revenue Minister should begin the process by recovering agricultural land in Kuttanad held by a CPI(M)-controlled cooperative society. He said he had written to the Chief Minister seeking immediate recovery of the land.

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