Punjab govt to give ownership rights to village residents

Chandigarh, June 6 (UNI) The Punjab Government has decided in principle that all those who have properties, including houses situated within the 'Lal Dora' (inside village boundaries) would be given ownership rights.

This decision was taken by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal after a meeting with BJP vice president and former Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma here today.

Mr Verma had suggested that just as land tillers had been given ownership rights, the government should also give such rights to the owners of dwellings, cow sheds and even a piece of land situated with in the 'Lal Dora'.

Mr Badal has instructed the Financial Commissioner, Revenue to prepare a record of the properties in all the villages of the state.

Thereafter the government would give ownership rights to the genuine residents of villages.

''Ownership right would provide a sense of security to a person who has been residing in a house for ages, without being its rightful owner'', Mr Verma said while talking to mediapersons after the meeting with the Chief Minister.

The former Delhi CM pointed out that once this target was achieved, Punjab would be the first state to provide ownership rights within the 'Lal Dora' of villages. He pointed out that a vast majority of the population residing in the villages in the country did not possess ownership rights, even of the houses in which they have been staying since the last five or six decades.

Mr Verma said the ownership rights could help them avail a loan after pledging their house to a financial institution. He further pointed out that these rights would be particularly helpful to the vast majority who do not posses agricultural land and have nothing to show to a bank while applying for a loan.

UNI