The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has launched a two-month-long special ‘Virasat’ (natural succession) drive in the state to end the land disputes over the succession rights in villages, and curb the property lawsuits that form a bulk of cases at the tehsil and district level.
The novel drive will end the long-pending disputes over the land and property, and prevent exploitation of villagers by the land mafia who target disputed properties.
This a first of its kind campaign in the state.
According to the government spokesman, the new initiative is expected to settle cases pending for years in the 1,08,000 revenue villages in the state.
Under the campaign, all the information related to the ‘Virasat’ will also be uploaded on the website of the revenue board based on which the progress of the scheme will be reviewed.
At the end of this two-month scheme, the district magistrate, at the district and the Tehsil level, will randomly identify ten per cent of the revenue village randomly and check the facts given in the report of the Lekhpal through the sub divisional magistrates, additional district magistrates and other district level officers.
The government spokesperson said villagers will be provided the facility to register their names in the land records through both online and offline methods.
For those who own land in their native villages but are living somewhere else, a special counter will be opened at tehsil for submitting applications.
“This initiative is expected to settle long-pending cases in 1.08 lakh revenue villages in the state. This will also curb the irresponsible behaviour of lekhpals who, it has been noticed, generally do not take an interest in these matters and are responsible for piling up land disputes,” the spokesperson said.
Under the scheme, the lekhpal will also have to visit villages to verify successors and assist them in filing online applications.
The option of filing applications from community facility centres will also be provided to people while a helpline is also being launched to assist people if they face difficulty in filing applications.
All information related to ‘virasat’ will be uploaded on the revenue board website where the progress of the scheme can be reviewed.
The villagers also feel that the campaign will not only help in ending the land disputes but will also put a check on the irresponsible behaviour of the ‘lekhpal’ (revenue officials) who generally do not take interest in these matters.
This is also the main reason behind the disputes within families and relatives and a majority of villagers also face lawsuits, that sometimes trail for generations.
With this system, the villagers will not be exploited at any level and can get their names registered in the land records (‘Khatauni’).
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Sunday, sought to make it clear that all the endeavours of the Modi government at the centre and his government in the state are aimed towards the overall welfare of the farmer community.
He reiterated his government’s commitment to doubling the income of the farmers by 2022.
During an interaction with the farmers at Acharya Narendra Dev Agriculture University in Ayodhya, the Chief Minister said that ever since the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, the welfare of farmers has always been on top of the agenda.
“I appeal to you to not be misguided by the misinformation campaign unleashed by the opposition and be assured that we are not going to leave a single stone unturned to ensure your betterment irrespective of what come may,” he said.
The Chief Minister laid dedicated 40 projects worth about Rs 90 crore for agriculture, agriculture science and research, animal husbandry, fishery and irrigation in Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Basti, Bahraich, Barabanki, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Amethi, Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Mau, Chandauli and Sonbhadra.
He announced on the occasion that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will transfer a total sum of Rs 18,000 crore in the accounts of nine crore farmers under ‘PM Kisan Samman Nidhi’ on December 25, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Out of these, as many as 2.30 crore farmers to receive Samman Nidhi in their accounts, belong to Uttar Pradesh.
He also sought to make it clear that contract farming is the need of time and it is not going to hurt the interests of the farmers in any way. Instead, their incomes will increase considerably. The government is already giving guarantee that they will get right price of their produce.
“The farmers will also have the liberty to sell their produce wherever they get the best price and the government will not have any kind of interference with their decision and will also ensure that they do not suffer any kind of loss,” he added.
The Chief Minister also attacked the opposition and said that it had no interest in the well-being of the farmers.
“The Swaminathan commission’s report (on the MSP) was never taken cognizance as the Congress had nothing to do with the interests of the farmers. Now the same people are again protesting the agriculture bills that is completely in the favour and interest of farmers and the youths”, said Yogi Adityanath.
