Biggies occupy khas land meant for landless: Survey

FE Report | Published: June 05, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Speakers at a roundtable demanded immediate enactment of a law in respect to land use as khas land (government-owned land) allotted a decade ago still eludes the landless.
They also said the rights of the landless to khas land could not be established yet because of a triangular pressure from influential individuals in the locality, unscrupulous public officials and law enforcers.
Citing a recent survey on six unions of Nilphamari, Barguna, Khulna and Patuakhali districts, they said around 28 per cent of the khas land, allotted to the landless, went under illegal occupation.
According to the survey findings, the fate of 81 landless families' rights to khas land hangs in the balance because of legal complexities.
ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) organised the roundtable on "Land Management in Bangladesh: Experiences from the Grassroots" at CIRDAP (Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific) auditorium in the capital on Wednesday.
AAB Country Director Farah Kabir moderated the discussion where Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sharif was present as the chief guest.
Presenting a keynote paper, Shamsher Ali, Manager (Land Rights) of the AAB, said although the number of landless people was on the rise, some 18,43,705 acres of khas land across the country were either remaining fallow or under illegal occupation of influential people.
The country has nearly 1.70 million landless families and of the total khas land, 457, 564 acres are ready for allotment, according to the statistics of the land ministry.
"The landless, who were given khas lands by the government over a decade ago, are yet to get possession of the land, as influential people continued their illegal occupation there," he said.
He said the ill-fated extreme poor were now facing a serious trouble because of cases filed by the illegal occupants of the land.
The deprived people from various parts of the country narrated their ordeal at the function, saying that they had been pressurised by the influential individuals and even by the law enforcers.
Talking about the issue, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the current scenario in the land sector was a sequel to the triangular pressure of influential individuals, unscrupulous public officials and law enforcers.
"We've many laws, in fact good laws but no implementation. Political will is very much required to overcome the situation," he said.
Mentioning TIB's 2002 Households Survey, he said 59 per cent people fell victim to corruption and irregularities in receiving services in the land sector.
Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sharif acknowledged the fact and said his ministry discussed 21 problems in respect to land management over the last five months.
"We're trying hard to introduce modern management in the land sector, which will help improve the situation," he said.
Speaking as the special guest, State Minister for Land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said the problems were caused by the incomplete land survey.
He said a comprehensive land survey would take at least 25 years.
"We're going to take a pilot project covering 45 upazilas under a PPP (public private partnership) arrangement to resolve such land-related pains," he said. The ministry would also go for land zoning, he added.