Civil society activists stress on land rights, seek three-month demolition notice

People displaced by drives in several cities against encroachments on government lands participated in hearing held at HKS Surjeet Bhavan in Delhi on May 22

TT Special Correspondent New Delhi, 14.07.2 : Civil society activists have stressed on the land rights, and a three-month notice before demolitions of settlements, among other demands raised at a public hearing on “The Forced Evictions Across India and G20 Events”, held here in May.

The report on the hearing came out on Thursday andit has insights from the hearing as well as the civil society jurors from different fields.

People displaced by drives in several cities against encroachments on government lands —which are taking place in the year of India’s G20 presidency, but not necessarily linked to the event — participated in this hearing held at the HKS Surjeet Bhavan in Delhi on May 22.

Gujarat High Court advocate Anand Yagnik said, as a juror in the report, that while squatting cannot be a just claim for ownership, laws cannot be imposed in “negligence of humanity.”

Yagnik, who has represented people affected by the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, said in the report: “Therefore in any case of cheating in the case of land, a notice should be served to the individual at least three months before the demolition so that there is enough time for the victim to approach the court and file a reasonable case. The demolition should only be considered post 3 months so that ample time to consider the case is given to the victim.”

Shimla’s former deputy mayor Tikender Panwar of the CPM explained in the report that in Punjab and Odisha, “the land tenure rights have been ordained in the policy framework, and the PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) has been customised to meet ground realities.

Both states have shown exemplary political leadership in designing their slum policies. In both states, a multi-pronged strategy for each city has been designed, rather thana state-level policy framework.”

This included community participation at all levels. Under a scheme initiated during Siddaramaiah’s previous term as Karnataka chief minister, more than 1,00,000 people have been given rights of registration in 2022, added Panwar, who also served on the jury.

Dalit rights activist and juror Beena Pallical said in the report that budgetary allocations for SCs and STs should be used for their livelihood and education.

Former IAS officer Harsh Mander, who also works with homeless people, was part of the jury.

He said in the report: “When these urban poor are portrayed as illegal then one should understand that they are not included in the law to be considered as legal.”