Delay in amending vested property Act

PM annoyed, orders quick action

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was annoyed as the proposal to amend the existing Vested Property Return Act was placed before the cabinet for the seventh time. She wanted to know from the ministers for law and land why the proposal was raised at yesterday's meeting with the inclusion of schedule-B ("kha"), which was scrapped earlier, a minister told The Independent.
“I want to solve the problem regarding the Act. But more complexities are being added to it. I don’t want the problem to remain,” the minister quoted the Prime Minister as saying.
The Prime Minister asked the ministers to solve the problem as soon as possible, the minister said.
According to a minister, Sheikh Hasina has asked the authorities concerned to amend the existing Vested Property Return Act, allowing formation of special tribunals at all the divisional headquarters to settle cases in which verdicts have already been given.
Ministers of finance, agriculture, primary education, health, law and the state minister for youth and sports took part in the discussion on the issue at the cabinet meeting. The Premier asked the ministers concerned to place the draft Act at the next cabinet meeting, the minister said.
Sources in the land ministry said about 6.97 lakh acres of land are under schedule-B ("kha") of the Act and there is no barrier to mutation of landed properties as the lands of schedule-B ("kha") have been scrapped finally.
“The officials concerned, especially Deputy Commissioners (DCs), Assistant Deputy Commissioners (revenue), Assistant Commissioners (Land) and Tohshilders will be responsible if they try to create problems for mutation  of the land properties of schedule-B.
State minister of youth and sports, Biren Sikder, told The Independent that they congratulated the Prime Minister for taking up the 50-year-old issue of land properties under schedule-B. “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has initiated the move to solve the problem and she is doing this successfully,” he said.
Talking to this correspondent, president of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, Kajal Devnath, said persons with vested interests, in collusion with certain dishonest bureaucrats, were trying to keep the problem alive.  
According to sources, thousands of cases regarding vested property have been pending for long. Only five per cent of them have been resolved so far.
In 2013, the government amended the vested property law by dropping the second schedule-B in view of the demand of the Hindu community.
After Independence, the government listed some of the properties of Hindus in the second schedule, saying those properties belonged to others and not the occupants.
Hindu leaders demanded scrapping of schedule-B attached to the original Vested Property Return Act-2001.
After the creation of India and Pakistan in 1947, many Hindu families left this part of Bengal, which later emerged as an independent country in 1971, and settled in Hindu-majority India. Again, the 1965 war between India and Pakistan caused further exodus of Hindus.
The then Pakistan government declared their land and houses as “enemy property” and took control of them.
After the creation of Bangladesh, the property vacated by the Hindus came in schedule-A. The government listed some properties of Hindus in schedule-B, claiming that the occupant Hindus may be living there unlawfully.

 

Delay in amending vested property Act

PM annoyed, orders quick action

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was annoyed as the proposal to amend the existing Vested Property Return Act was placed before the cabinet for the seventh time. She wanted to know from the ministers for law and land why the proposal was raised at yesterdays meeting with the inclusion of schedule-B (kha), which was scrapped earlier, a minister told The Independent. I want to solve the problem regarding the Act. But more complexities are being added to it. I dont want the problem to remain, the minister quoted the Prime Minister as saying. The Prime Minister asked the ministers to solve the problem as soon as possible, the minister said. According to a minister, Sheikh Hasina has asked the authorities concerned to amend the existing Vested Property Return Act, allowing formation of special tribunals at all the divisional headquarters to settle cases in which verdicts have already been given. Ministers of finance, agriculture, primary education, health, law and the state minister for youth and sports took part in the discussion on the issue at the cabinet meeting. The Premier asked the ministers concerned to place the draft Act at the next cabinet meeting, the minister said. Sources in the land ministry said about 6.97 lakh acres of land are under schedule-B (kha) of the Act and there is no barrier to mutation of landed properties as the lands of schedule-B (kha) have been scrapped finally. The officials concerned, especially Deputy Commissioners (DCs), Assistant Deputy Commissioners (revenue), Assistant Commissioners (Land) and Tohshilders will be responsible if they try to create problems for mutation of the land properties of schedule-B. State minister of youth and sports, Biren Sikder, told The Independent that they congratulated the Prime Minister for taking up the 50-year-old issue of land properties under schedule-B. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has initiated the move to solve the problem and she is doing this successfully, he said. Talking to this correspondent, president of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, Kajal Devnath, said persons with vested interests, in collusion with certain dishonest bureaucrats, were trying to keep the problem alive. According to sources, thousands of cases regarding vested property have been pending for long. Only five per cent of them have been resolved so far. In 2013, the government amended the vested property law by dropping the second schedule-B in view of the demand of the Hindu community. After Independence, the government listed some of the properties of Hindus in the second schedule, saying those properties belonged to others and not the occupants. Hindu leaders demanded scrapping of schedule-B attached to the original Vested Property Return Act-2001. After the creation of India and Pakistan in 1947, many Hindu families left this part of Bengal, which later emerged as an independent country in 1971, and settled in Hindu-majority India. Again, the 1965 war between India and Pakistan caused further exodus of Hindus. The then Pakistan government declared their land and houses as enemy property and took control of them. After the creation of Bangladesh, the property vacated by the Hindus came in schedule-A. The government listed some properties of Hindus in schedule-B, claiming that the occupant Hindus may be living there unlawfully.