Initiative of special housing project for numerically smaller homeless ethnic families
SM robin / The Legalvoice24.com :
Lands Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said that the draft bill of the ‘Land Uses and Ownership Rights Act’ is on its way to finalization. Within a few months, it will be sent to Parliament for enactment, ahead of the next budget session.
Land Minister said this while addressing a seminar titled ‘Conflict Dynamics and Non-Violent Transformative Approaches: A Closer Look on Land Rights of Marginalized Communities’ organized by the NGO NETZ Partnership for Development and Justice (NETZ Bangladesh) at CIRDAP Auditorium in the capital today, on Wednesday.
The land minister further expressed hope that it would be possible to send the draft of the ‘Land Uses Rights Act’ and the ‘Land Crime Prevention and Redress Act’ to Parliament at the same time.
The Minister said, under the ‘Land Use and Ownership Right Act’, citizens will be given a document called ‘Certificate of Land Ownership’ or CLO which will contain all the information about land ownership – different types of documents will not be required to prove the ownership of land. Apart from this, a smart card will also be given. The card will contain all digital information of ownership. Under the ‘Land Crime Prevention and Redress Act’, illegal land grabbing will be treated as a criminal offense and appropriate penalties and fines will be provided. Under the ‘Land Uses Rights Act’, there will be no need to acquire the entire land in the case of laying pipelines through the ground and constructing other underground structures, moreover, the land owner will get financial compensation.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said, if the three laws are passed, they will act as a complement to land services digitalization which will bring paradigm reforms in the entire land management. He also said that the current government does not consider anyone as a minority. He said, we are all citizens of Bangladesh, we are Bangladeshis. Bangladesh is a multi-ethnic country. At this time, he informed there about taking the initiative to check the feasibility of taking special projects for homeless numerically smaller ethnic families under the government’s housing program.
The minister thinks that the conflict over land will be reduced to a large extent after the Bangladesh digital survey is completed. He said we are creating a ‘comfort zone for the citizens and working on a priority basis for the economically weaker sections of the country.
The seminar was held on various aspects of land-related conflicts of the smaller ethnic groups living in the plains and a study on the methods and possible ways of resolving conflicts in non-violent means. The research was conducted by the Executive Director of Research Initiatives, Bangladesh (RIB) Dr. Meghna Guhathakurta. The researcher has proposed various initiatives for public administration, civil society, and local levels in reducing ethnic conflicts over land. Notable among them are proper training of those engaged in land service, specialized training of government officials working in areas inhabited by various small ethnic groups, fair distribution of social safety nets, initiatives to enhance the skills of citizens, increasing the participation of women in the society, the establishment of local help desks for women, increasing inter-cultural exchanges through organizing joint sports and cultural events, etc.
Former Chief Information Commissioner and Dhaka University Professor Dr. Sadeka Halim, General Secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum Sanjeeb Drang, Professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka University, Chief Executive Officer of Dasco Foundation Akramul Haque among others spoke at the event. Three Bangladeshi citizens belonging to numerically smaller ethnic groups living in different parts of Bangladesh spoke their words at the event. People belonging to various ethnic groups of the country including Santal, Bengali, Garo, and students of Dhaka University were also present at the event.
