Uttarakhand: Government sets up committee to examine report of land law panel

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], December 22 : The Uttarakhand government has constituted a five-member draft committee for a detailed examination of the report provided to the government by the 'Land Law Committee'.
The panel will be headed by Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi.
The committee constituted for the study and examination of land law in Uttarakhand, submitted its report to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami with 23 recommendations in its report earlier in September.
The committee has given its 23 recommendations to the government, establishing a balance between the possibilities of investment in the interest of the state and the uncontrolled purchase and sale of land.
According to a statement issued by the state government, the committee's recommendations establish a balance between the possibilities of investment and the uncontrolled purchase and sale of land in the hill state.
It has recommended that approval for purchase of farmland should come from the government rather than from district magistrates, which is the current practice.
The committee also recommended strict action against those building illegal structures or religious places on rivers, forest areas, pastures or public land. There should be a state-wide campaign against illegal possession of lands.
In its 80-page report, the committee said that at present, district magistrates allow the purchase of farmland for related purposes, but in several cases, the land is misused by the construction of resorts or personnel bungalows on it. This is making the hill residents landless and is not creating new jobs.
It also recommended that, as in Himachal Pradesh, the permission for land for MSME industries should be granted by the government based on the essentiality certificate and not by the district administration.
The committee recommended that permission should not be granted by the DM but by the government.