NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is to grant ownership rights to around 7,200 families who were given agricultural land in the mid-70s under a Central government programme for the landless. Around 12,500 landless families in Delhi had received land for cultivation under the “20-point programme” launched during former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s tenure in 1975-76, according to officials.
These families were recognised as tenants and were required to apply for land ownership with the revenue department.
Some of the families got ownership rights to their land by going around bureaucratic procedures, but other, mainly from the Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes, could not “because they couldn’t afford to bribe officers,” an official claimed.
“Left in the lurch, these families still don’t have land rights. Considering the rapid rate of urbanisation in the national capital, new housing and infrastructure projects will be undertaken. Therefore, they face a serious threat of eviction,” said Delhi’s Social Justice Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam.
These 7,200 families in 89 villages of Delhi were vulnerable to displacement without compensation if their land was acquired by agencies for government projects, the minister said. People with ownership rights receive good compensation and they have access to economic opportunities.
“These families have been moving from pillar to post for the last 40 years... Still, not much has been achieved... the files keep oscillating between the Centre and the city government,” he alleged.
An official said district magistrates had started meeting such families and the cases will be disposed of soon.