BANGALORE: The government has decided not to entertain anymore appeals seeking allotment of land for burial grounds on the basis of caste, the Legislative Council was informed on Wednesday.
Replying to a query by Congress member K Govindaraj during Question Hour, Revenue Minister V Sreenivasa Prasad said, “We are not in favour of sanctioning land for graveyards on caste basis.”
Maintaining that demanding burial grounds on caste basis is a social menace, he said, “The government has plans to reserve land for common burial grounds in all villages,” he said.
Informing that the government had directed Deputy Commissioners to identify land for graveyards in accordance to the population of each village, he said, “A special grant of `10 crore has been earmarked to acquire or buy land if no government land is available”.
Responding to the Congress member’s concern that burial grounds located on revenue land across the state are being encroached upon, Prasad said the officials have been directed to prepare an action plan to prevent the menace and remove encroachments.
The revenue authorities have been directed to book criminal cases against the encroachers, the Minister added.