THE STATE rural development department has issued guidelines to regularise residential encroachment on government lands in rural areas under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Housing For All 2022).
The department has asked all the zilla parishads to prepare a list of such encroachment in every gram panchayat, to be prepared by local officials after verifying all records. Officials have been instructed to ensure that nobody is left out.
In February, the department had proposed to regularise all encroachment in villages as of January 1, 2011. The encroachers would either be housed at the same location under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or given an alternative location in the same village.
“Then, the list should be put up at a prominent place in the gram panchayat and the gram sabha. Suggestions and objections should be invited in 15 days from the people,” the official said.
The official added that objections received from the people should be heard by a high-powered committee that would be set up at the tehsil level. “Objections regarding mistakes in the name and year and the area of encroachment are likely to come up. The committee at the tehsil level will hear all the objections… Later, people would be asked to pay regularisation fee, following which, their houses would be regularised.”