Villagers to get ownership rights of plots

Bhopal, Jan 04: Soon Madhya Pradesh is going to become the first state in the country where villagers will get ownership rights of their residential plots and houses. For this a state-wide campaign would be launched. A sum of Rs 10 to 12 crore is estimated to be spent on this campaign. Giving this information, Revenue Minister Kamal Patel said that Governor Balram Jakhar and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan would formally launch this campaign on January 26, 2008. Revenue Minister Patel said that from January 26, 2008 the work of distributing Bhu-Adhikar Pustika (Land Rights Booklet) would also get underway.

The booklet would be based on hologram technology having a photograph of farmer concerned so that no one can imitate or forge it. A target of six months has been set to complete this campaign. At present farmers possess two land right booklets which lands them in difficulties when they want to avail bank loans or benefits of other welfare schemes meant for them. With only one land rights booklet, farmers would get the facilities easily and at rapid pace. Due to computerisation, the booklet would carry necessary information about the booklet holder farmer.

This booklet has been named as 'Mukhyamantri Grameen Awas Adhikar Pustika. Revenue Minister Patel said that so far villagers did not have ownership rights of their residential plots or house like their urban residents. But now on the initiative of Madhya Pradesh Revenue Department, residents of 53 thousand villages would become owners of about 1.25 crore residential plots and Madhya Pradesh would be the first state in the country to do so.

He said that Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi used to say that the 'soul of India lives in its villages'. Madhya Pradesh government is launching this ambitious scheme after taking inspiration from this though of Father of the Nation. Revenue Minister Patel said that preparations to chalk out a master plan for villages have begun. Initiative of the state government to change the face of villages has yielded very positive results. Villagers have themselves come out to remove their encroachments after rise in land prices in the wake of construction of rural road at a rapid pace.