Bill to bar ‘outsiders’ from buying agricultural land in Uttarakhand gets Assembly nod

The provision that allows the purchase of 250 square metres of land for residential use without permission continues to be in force.

The state Cabinet had approved the draft law on Wednesday. This comes after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in 2021 set up a committee to look into land laws. The committee submitted a report in 2022.

In the current amendment, the government has removed the provision allowing the transfer of excess land – more than 12.5 acres as mandated in the principal Act – to anyone for tourism, industry, agriculture, and other uses.

Moreover, the amendment says a buyer, before purchasing land, shall submit an affidavit to the sub-registrar stating that they or their family have not purchased more than 250 square metres of land elsewhere in the state for residential purposes.

The Bill reverses the amendment made under former CM Trivendra Rawat that authorised district magistrates to grant permission for land purchase for industries. It also reinstates the 12.5-acre ceiling that exists in the principal Act.

The amendment also mandates that before the purchase of land, the department concerned shall issue a land essential certificate after assessing the proposal. Even in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, the provision for transferring excess land, including for horticultural and other uses, will also be allowed only after the department concerned issues a land essential certificate after assessing the proposal with details of the amount of investment, employment generation and machinery.

Earlier, anyone could purchase land with a prior sanction of the district collector for agricultural or horticultural purposes by furnishing an affidavit that such land would be used for the stated purpose.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh on Friday said that since 2018, there had been a total of 1,883 land purchase approvals for industrial, tourism, educational, healthcare, agricultural, and horticultural purposes, and that in 599 of these cases, land use violations were identified. Among these, 572 cases have been filed under Sections 166/167 of the Uttarakhand (Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Management Act, 1950) (Adaptation and Application Order-2001). Additionally, in 16 cases, legal proceedings have been completed, and 9.476 hectares of land have been transferred back to the state government. The remaining cases are under review.