Land management policy might be placed before Cabinet today

New move to recover grabbed land

20th hectares of govt lands grabbed over last 42 years

At least 20,000 hectares of public lands, of a total of 22,000 hectares owned by the Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) and the railways department, have been grabbed by land-grabbers in the last 42 years, disclosed sources in the RTHD and the railways department.
The public lands were grabbed under the pretext of leasing them out to set up petrol pumps, fisheries and agricultural farms, and small industrial units on the lands, the sources added.
For recovering the lands from the land-grabbers, the RTHD has prepared a draft policy—the Land Management Policy—and it is likely to be placed at today's Cabinet meeting for approval. After getting the approval of the Cabinet, the RTHD and the railways will give fresh leases of their lands.
RTHD secretary MAN Siddique told The Independent that most of the lands under the division have been grabbed or leased by the authorities. “We will be able to lease out the lands for their proper utilisation after recovering these under the new land management policy,” he said. “The government can earn a good amount of revenue by leasing out and properly utilising the lands,” he added.
He added that they are installing a ‘land management software’ to maintain a database of the government lands.
According to sources, more than 20,000 hectares of RTHD land and more than 1,619 hectares of railway land are currently under illegal occupation by government and non-government organisations and other influential quarters.

The RTHD would lease out the lands for a maximum period of five years and the lessees of the lands would be able to renew the contracts for fees of 5 to 10 per cent, the sources added.

Land management policy might be placed before Cabinet today

New move to recover grabbed land

20th hectares of govt lands grabbed over last 42 years

At least 20,000 hectares of public lands, of a total of 22,000 hectares owned by the Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) and the railways department, have been grabbed by land-grabbers in the last 42 years, disclosed sources in the RTHD and the railways department. The public lands were grabbed under the pretext of leasing them out to set up petrol pumps, fisheries and agricultural farms, and small industrial units on the lands, the sources added. For recovering the lands from the land-grabbers, the RTHD has prepared a draft policythe Land Management Policyand it is likely to be placed at todays Cabinet meeting for approval. After getting the approval of the Cabinet, the RTHD and the railways will give fresh leases of their lands. RTHD secretary MAN Siddique told The Independent that most of the lands under the division have been grabbed or leased by the authorities. We will be able to lease out the lands for their proper utilisation after recovering these under the new land management policy, he said. The government can earn a good amount of revenue by leasing out and properly utilising the lands, he added. He added that they are installing a land management software to maintain a database of the government lands. According to sources, more than 20,000 hectares of RTHD land and more than 1,619 hectares of railway land are currently under illegal occupation by government and non-government organisations and other influential quarters. The RTHD would lease out the lands for a maximum period of five years and the lessees of the lands would be able to renew the contracts for fees of 5 to 10 per cent, the sources added.