'Govt to promulgate Ordinance to auction its lands'

'Govt to promulgate Ordinance to auction its lands'
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The State Government is contemplating the need to take stringent action against government officials found guilty of conniving with land-grabbers to help encroach on government land.

“If found guilty, they could be sent to jail for a term of up to seven years,” Revenue Minister B. Jagadish Shettar told reporters here on Thursday.

He said only land-grabbers could be punished as per the existing law. “It is impossible for anyone to register government lands in their name without the active involvement of officials,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government has estimated that nearly 20,000 acres of government land has been encroached on in and around Bangalore. “We have so far identified 4,000 acres of land. Of this 2,000 acres has been transferred to the government, while 500 acres has been sold through public auction,” Shettar said.

ORDINANCE: The State government is planning to promulgate an Ordinance to overcome the minor legal hurdles that are coming in the way of the auctioning of government land.

Shettar said the Karnataka Land Reforms Act (Second Amendment) Bill 2005 has been approved by the Assembly.

The Bill could not be tabled in the Upper House, he said while expressing the need to promulgate an Ordinance.