more than two crore people will lose their shelter | More than two and a half crore people will become homeless in UP: Why did the government bow down on the Nazul bill, fear of losing vote bank or pressure from MLAs? – Uttar Pradesh News

Aug 5, 2024 Divya Bharat

In UP, the government had to bow down on the issue of Nazul land. After being passed in the Legislative Assembly, the Uttar Pradesh Nazul Property Bill got stuck in the Legislative Council. The problem for the Yogi government is that BJP leaders have also raised objections on this issue. This is the major reason for the opposition to the bill.

Fearing loss of vote bank in the by-elections and the upcoming assembly elections in 2027, BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary also opposed the bill. This happened for the first time in the Yogi government, when despite having an absolute majority in both houses, the bill passed by the assembly got stuck in the Legislative Council. Or rather, it was stalled. It is believed that now this bill will never be implemented in its present form.

What is Nazul land? Why did the ruling party as well as the opposition unite against the bill? Why was the Yogi government forced to send this bill to the Select Committee? Read everything in this report…

More than 27 thousand hectares of Nazul land in UP
An official of the Housing Department said that there is more than 27 thousand hectares of Nazul land in UP. Prayagraj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Meerut, Barabanki, Ayodhya, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Deoria, Agra, Bahraich, Balrampur, Varanasi, Muzaffarnagar, Hathras, Aligarh, Kanpur and Amethi have the highest Nazul property. Here 25 to 60 percent of the property is Nazul.

According to the initial assessment, more than 2.5 crore people will be affected by the implementation of the Nazul Property Bill. He said that there are some districts in Awadh, including Gonda, where more than 50 percent of the urban population lives on Nazul land. More than half of the MLAs and MPs of Gonda district also have houses on Nazul property.

The ordinance was approved on March 7
The state government had approved the Uttar Pradesh Nazul Property (Management and Use for Public Purpose) Ordinance 2024 on 7 March 2024 before the Lok Sabha elections. But, this matter could not gain momentum in the noise of the Lok Sabha elections.

Key points of the bill…

The bill said that all applications pending with the court or local authority for change in ownership of Nazul land would be considered rejected.
Those who have deposited money to get the free-hold i.e. ownership rights of Nazul land in their name, their money will be refunded at the interest rate of State Bank of India.
If the lease rent has been deposited on time and there is no violation of the lease conditions, then the Nazul land will not be taken back from the lessee. The government will take possession of the land only when the lease expires or if there is some dispute.
If the rules have not been violated, you can renew your lease for 30 years. Those who do not want to renew will have the option of taking back the money. Under the earlier rule, the lease could be taken for 99 years.
If there is no dispute on Nazul land, then the government can consider making it free-hold. In this case, the collector will take a decision only after hearing the side of the person taking the land on lease.

Know why there is protest now
By-elections are to be held on 10 seats. Politics is also being done on the issue in view of the upcoming assembly elections. SP-Congress are putting pressure on the government. Opposition MLAs argue that this will make the poor homeless. They argue that the strict provisions of the bill can evict people living on these lands for generations. People’s entire earnings are invested in these lands. At the same time, BJP MLAs are also opposing it because they fear the vote bank will shift. If this bill is passed without any changes, then BJP may suffer losses in the 2027 assembly elections.

Now even the cabinet ministers have started shrugging off the responsibility
The Nazul Property Bill faced strong opposition inside and outside the House. According to sources, the government is arguing that its ordinance was approved in the cabinet meeting on March 7. Why did no cabinet minister oppose it at that time? On the other hand, after this argument of the government, cabinet ministers have started distancing themselves from the matter.

Two senior ministers of the government who had advocated the bill in the House are now saying that they did not oppose it so that the wrong message does not go out in the Lok Sabha elections. The bureaucrats got this ordinance passed by the cabinet by giving wrong advice to the government. They were not even taken into confidence before introducing the bill.

The opposition got the issue without any effort
Political experts believe that since the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP itself is giving issues to the opposition one after the other. Sometimes statements like ‘the organization is bigger than the government’ are revealing the internal conflicts of the government. Sometimes the Supreme Court is stopping the matter of putting name plates on the shops on the Kanwar Yatra route. Now an issue like the Nazul Property Bill has come into the hands of the opposition. Even after the matter is stuck in the Legislative Council, the opposition is fanning this issue.

Senior journalist Rajeev Srivastava says that the officers gave a mis-feed to the government. Protests started in Allahabad as soon as the ordinance was implemented.

The livelihood of thousands of people is dependent on Nazul property. There should have been a dialogue before passing the bill. The provisions which are opposed will have to be removed.

Senior journalist and political analyst Virendranath Bhatt says that for the first time fingers are being pointed at the Chief Minister. No one in the BJP is in favour of the bill. By giving power to the officials of the urban bodies and the District Magistrates, they will harass the public. During the Kalyan Singh government, in 1991 and 1998 also, a decision was taken to make the Nazul property freehold. The government should have held extensive discussions.

What is the government’s argument? Ministers came down for damage control
The political importance of the bill can be gauged from the fact that for the first time in more than seven years of BJP rule, a large number of MLAs met the Chief Minister, both Deputy CMs and the BJP State President. This was also the first time when both Deputy CMs and the BJP State President met CM Yogi to stall the bill passed in the Legislative Assembly in the Legislative Council.

Seeing the concern of the opposition as well as party leaders, the BJP fielded UP Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna for damage control. Suresh Kumar Khanna assured that the economically weaker sections will not be evicted.

Nazul land cannot be privately owned, but existing leaseholders who comply with the lease terms will have their contracts renewed for up to 30 years. If they do not wish to renew, they can get a refund. The government has assured that the bill aims to protect the rights of existing occupants and ensure that government land remains available for public use and development.

The matter is in court, the land is also under investigation

62 cases filed against the ordinance

Since March, 62 cases have been filed in the Allahabad High Court against the Uttar Pradesh Nazul Property Ordinance-2024.

250 cases are pending in Supreme Court

More than 250 cases are pending in the Supreme Court against issues related to Nazul property, including eviction from Nazul property, non-renewal of lease etc.

SIT and EOW investigation also

The Housing Department official said the government has Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Economic Offences Wing (EOW) investigating some Nazul properties.

If the bill is implemented then even big people will come under its purview
The Housing Department official said that the Nazul Property Bill will snatch away the land of influential people more than the common man. Big businessmen, industrialists, leaders of all parties and public representatives, doctors, lawyers, educationists, retired bureaucrats, retired judges and strongmen will be more affected by this.

Housing department sought report from all districts
The Housing Department has sought a report on Nazul property from all districts. How many families will be affected by the Nazul Property Bill? How many poor and middle class families will be affected by this? This is also being assessed.

What is the situation in other states
In Madhya Pradesh, permanent leases are given for a maximum of 99 years with the consent of the Finance Department. An application has to be submitted for renewal. In Rajasthan, the government has made rules for renting out Nazul properties and selling those who are in possession of them. There is also a rule for auctioning Nazul properties.

What next? : The bill will be a challenge for the committee as well
Usually the opposition opposes the bills. It demands that the bill be sent to the Select Committee. In this case, the ruling party demanded that the bill be sent to the Select Committee. Now the bill has been sent to the Select Committee. A Select Committee will be formed for review. The committee will have members from the opposition as well as the ruling party. The Select Committee has to submit its report in two months. Experts believe that submitting the report will be no less than a challenge for the Select Committee as well.

Nazul bill stuck in Legislative Council, Bhupendra Chaudhary came out in protest, Anupriya said- Bill should be withdrawn

The Uttar Pradesh Nazul Property (Management and Use for Public Purpose) Bill 2024 passed by the UP Assembly got stuck in the Legislative Council on Thursday. BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary himself stood up in opposition to the bill. On Chaudhary’s proposal, the bill was handed over to the Select Committee.

Deputy CM Keshav Maurya is the leader of the house in the Legislative Council. When this bill was being discussed, apart from Bhupendra Chaudhary, both Deputy CMs Keshav Maurya and Brajesh Pathak were sitting together. Minister Anupriya Patel in the Modi government has also opposed the Nazul Bill. Read full news

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