Land left by Bengalis in 1971 to be given to haris

KARACHI: Agricultural land belonging to people who left for Bangladesh in 1971 will be handed over to local agricultural workers, the Sindh government decided.

Administrators of six districts in the province have been instructed to prepare a collective report on agricultural land in their areas. Officials said that the decision to distribute land to local haris was made at a meeting that was chaired by the Sindh chief secretary. Participants at the meeting also discussed the disputes over land between the federal and city governments.

EDO Revenue was instructed to carry out a land survey and then sell all that land that was not being contended in courts. Profits made from these sales will be divided between the two governments, with the federal government getting a 60 per cent of the share and the city government keeping the rest. Thousands of acres of land were abandoned in Thatta, Badin, Jamshoro, Sanghar, Shikarpur and Sukkur by Bengalis who migrated in 1971, when Bangladesh separated from Pakistan.

This land was handed over to the Sindh government by the federal government, officials said. Before this land can be distributed to agricultural labourers a proper policy needs to be formulated, they added. Meanwhile, the home department was also instructed to get rid of encroachments from around the federal printing press, located in Sabzi Mandi. Secretary general administration, additional home secretary, EDO and other cabinet division officers also attended the meeting.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 12th, 2010.