Depts told to go slow on acquisition, use government land for projects

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21

The Haryana Government has asked its departments to go slow on acquisition of land for major projects and explore the possibilities of getting unutilised government land for the purpose .

“In future if any department needs land for a project, it should first visit the website of the Revenue and the Disaster Management Departments and check the availability of unutilised land of various departments,” an order issued by the Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management, stated.

Officials highlighted that if any land fulfilled the requirement for a project, the department would not acquire land from private landowners. The chosen land can easily be transferred from one department to another at the official level, they asserted.

A state government functionary argued that since acquisition of land was a ‘sensitive issue’ in the agricultural state of Haryana, the transfer of vacant land from one department to another was a possible solution for making land available for state and central projects.

The order stated: “As a welfare state, the Haryana Government recognises that the acquisition of land and alienation of landowners from their sources of livelihood could be a painful process. Moreover, there is always a possibility of litigation, delaying acquisition. The past experience of government releasing acquired land points out the need for greater diligence in proposals for land acquisition.”

Haryana has a history of violent clashes over land acquisitions in the past with allegations and counter-allegations flying thick against previous governments for favouring big builders.