JOIN USLaw Minister T B Jayachandra has said that officials would be directed not to evict those who have encroached upon government land, till the Forest Rights Committee and the Bagar Hukum Committee dispose of the pending applications.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, the minister said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had kept aside all the applications pending before the Forest Rights Committee. To help the aggrieved, a new committee has been constituted, and till those applications are attended to, the encroachments would not be cleared, he added.
The minister said that applications seeking regularisation of illegal cultivation of lands are pending in very large numbers. But there is no provision to evict such farmers.Officials would be directed not to evict such farmers who have submitted applications to the Bagar Hukum committee seeking regularisation, he added.
Sections 94 (c) and 94 (c) (c) of the Land Revenue Act have been amended to regularise the land encroached upon for housing.
Applications are being received to regularise them, and those who submit applications would also get protection, he added.
False documents
When his attention was drawn towards the demand by former MLA A T Ramaswamy and freedom fighter H S Doreswamy to take stringent action against land grabbers, Jayachandra said that the government would be writing to the Revenue, Forest, Urban Development, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj departments to take action against those who have encroached upon public land by creating false documents.