Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 7 (HBTV): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, during a high-level meeting on Monday, directed officials to grant legal land ownership rights to families displaced from Bangladesh and resettled in various districts of the state.

The Chief Minister said this was not merely a matter of land transfer, but an opportunity to honour the life struggles of thousands of families who took refuge in India and have awaited rehabilitation for decades. He urged officials to treat these families with empathy and respect, stating that it was the moral responsibility of the administration.

Officials informed the Chief Minister that between 1960 and 1975, in the aftermath of Partition, thousands of families displaced from East Pakistan were rehabilitated in the districts of Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bijnor, and Rampur.

Initially settled in various villages through transit camps, these families were allotted land. However, due to legal and record-keeping discrepancies, most of them have not been able to obtain formal land ownership rights.

Officials explained that although agricultural land had been allotted to these displaced families in districts such as Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Bijnor, administrative and legal complications—including clerical errors in records, land being registered under the Forest Department, delays in mutation processes, and lack of actual possession—have deprived them of lawful ownership. In some areas, displaced families from other states were also settled, many of whom still lack land titles.

At present, many families have built permanent homes on land they have cultivated for years, yet their names do not appear in official revenue records. In some villages, the originally resettled families are no longer present, and in other cases, land has been encroached upon without following legal procedures, further complicating the matter.

The Chief Minister instructed that in cases where land was previously allotted under the Government Grants Act, legal alternatives should be explored within the current legal framework, given that the Act was repealed in 2018.

CM Yogi remarked that this sensitive initiative could offer new hope and a dignified life to displaced families who have long been neglected. He emphasised that this should not be seen merely as a rehabilitation effort, but as an act of ‘social justice, humanity, and national responsibility.’

(ANI)