Govt to step up measures to protect government lands

T�PURAM: Revenue Minister K P Rajendran Tuesday said 13,159 acres had been retrieved from land grabbers in different parts of the state.



Replying to a calling attention in the assembly, Rajendran said district and taluk level task forces had been set up for the purpose of evicting encroachers and a special task force was engaged in the task in the hill station of Munnar.



The land retrieved would be registered in Kerala State Land Bank set up for protecting and allotting land to landless people and for development purposes, Rajendran said, reiterating governments resolve to retrieve encroached government lands



The LDF government had assigned land to more than one lakh landless families including tribals and scheduled caste and plans were on to distribute land to another one lakh families, he added.



Government also plans to bring in necessary amendments to the Kerala Government Land Protection Act to ensure stringent punishment to those who encroach public lands and protection of the surplus lands in the state, Rajendran said.



Taking up the issue, Anathalavattom Anandan (CPIM) said a section in the bureaucracy with the help of media was trying to scuttle government efforts to evict encroachers from government lands, especially in Munnar.