Anti-land grabbing initiative

The parliamentary standing committee on the land ministry on Sunday recommended to the government that land grabbers be made subject to the Speedy Trial Act to help recover public land from encroachers. We whole-heartedly second this proposal which recognizes the scale and the seriousness of the issue. To illegally occupy for private gain land that rightfully belongs to the public and to betray the public trust by colluding in such criminality is the worst kind of anti-social offense and deserves the opprobrium that the standing committee's strong measures imply.

The committee is to be further congratulated for naming ten real estate developers that are currently illegally occupying public land and announcing that stern action will be taken against them if they do not vacate the grabbed land. The list includes some of the best-known conglomerates in the country and one hopes that being "named and shamed" in this manner will have a salutary effect on their actions and that the stigma and odium attached to their names will encourage them to clean up their acts.

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The committee also charged the deputy commissioners of 61 districts with submitting detailed reports on the status of public, vested and abandoned land within 60 days in order to expedite the process of ensuring that public land not be misused for private gain. This, too, is a positive step in the right direction.

The egregious conduct of land-grabbers and the corrupt officials who collude in their pillaging of the country is now clearly before the government. Let us hope that the issue is kept alive and that the proposed measures are implemented seriously so that land-grabbers and their official cronies learn that there is nothing more disgraceful than the plundering of the nation for private gain and that they will be severely punished for such a crime.