Govt also plans to set up shelters for the destitute
Mustafizur Rahman
The government has initiated a move to distribute ‘khas’ or government-owned land among the ‘landless people’ in each upazila across the country.
The entire process, that includes listing of landless people, identifying khas lands not in use by any authorities and allocation, will be completed by June 30, land ministry officials said.
The government has also planned to set up shelter centres for the destitute at the upazila level, they said, adding that the land ministry in separate moves has already issued directives to local administration for immediate measures to this effect.
‘Initially, khas land will be distributed among 20 families in each upazila. Two committees – one at the upazila level and the other at the district level – are working on allocation of khas lands among the landless,’ land minister Rezaul Karim Hira told New Age at his office last week.
He said the committees in which local law makers were included as advisers, were preparing lists of landless people and also trying to select the government-owned lands not used by any authorities.
The authorities are carrying on with the initiatives in keeping with the government-owned land management policy-1997.
The 15-member upazila executive committee for khas land management is headed by upazila nirbahi officer while the district-level committee is led by the deputy commissioner.
The local bodies, responsible for preparing lists of the landless and identifying khas lands for allotment, have been asked to send reports to the ministry on completion of the tasks, according to officials concerned.
‘The work is in progress… We will soon start distribution of khas lands among the people who do not own any land. The process of land handover will be completed by June,’ the minister said.
He said the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, might inaugurate the programme.
A separate project for constructing shelter centres at each upazila was also going on simultaneously, Rezaul Karim said, adding that each shelter would accommodate 20 to 40 poor families.
Courtesy of NewAge