Maya’s pet land scheme: Minorities,SCs benefit most

The state had identified 305 urban slums in 30 districts. A total of 7,072 people in these slums were found eligible for the scheme.

According to the reports collected by the state government from the districts,maximum land rights were received by Scheduled Castes (36 per cent) and minorities (28 per cent). While 2,550 people from the ST category had received land rights,1,995 from the minorities have benefitted from the scheme. Slum-dwellers from Other Backward Class (OBC) category had received 1,516 land rights (21.43 per cent). While over 327 land rights were distributed to people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (ST),685 beneficiaries are from other categories.

The Kanpur Development Authority has given maximum land rights to 3,112 slum-dwellers,including 1,161 from the SC in 38 slums. Same numbers of slums were selected in Rae Bareli too but only 94 dwellers,including 86 from the SC,were found eligible.

The Lucknow Development Authority had given land rights to 2,059 residents of 20 slums in the state capital. People from the minority category received maximum land titles — 1,213 — in Lucknow. Only 327 ST category people received land rights in Kanpur,Agra,Moradabad and Kapilvastu. In other districts,459 land rights were given in Agra,438 in Bareilly,161 in Ghaziabad,122 in Moradabad,110 in Saharanpur and 97 in Meerut. “The distribution of land rights has been completed in all districts. But few land rights are likely to be given in Kanpur soon,” said Arun Kumar Sinha,Principal Secretary of Housing and Urban Planning department.