Kerala plans to introduce comprehensive land policy

Thiruvananthapuram, May 28 (UNI) Kerala Revenue Minister K P Rajendran today said the state government was planning to introduce a comprehensive 'land policy'.

The proposed policy would be presented in the next Assembly Session to be held at the end of June, for approval, he told newspersons here.

Admitting that the Land Reform Act was not a success and there had been lapses in recovering surplus land in the state, he said the government would constitute a Review Board with the Revenue Minister as its Chairman to settle the pending cases.

Stating that 2,098 cases, relating to the surplus land, were pending for disposal before various courts, including the High Court, since 1973, he said the Land Board was reconstituted for speedy disposal of these cases.

The Minister said it had been asked to sit once in a week for hearing of such cases and arrange for two sittings where large number of cases were pending.

''Once the government takes back the surplus land, it will be utilised for providing land to the landless in the state,'' he added.

The government would give priority to provide land to the landless and the Adivasis in the state.

Once the government was able to provide land to all the adivasis, Kerala would become the first state in the country to implement the Centre's Adivasi Act, he said.

UNI CGV ABC US1827