A federation of non-governmental organisations has threatened to disrupt the Devaraj Urs Jayanti celebrations planned in Bengaluru on August 20, if their demand for housing for all and distribution of land to the landless are not met.
Bhoomi Mathu Vasati Hakku Vanchitara Horata Samiti will also take out a rally on July 20 and submit a memorandum to the government to formally put forward their demands. “What we want from the government by August 20 is a solemn assurance that these demands will be accepted and that a high-powered committee headed by the Chief Minister will be constituted to implement them,” Sirimane Nagaraj, samiti convener, told presspersons on Friday.
The committee should have representatives of the organisations agitating for this right and eminent citizens like H.S. Doreswamy, Mr. Nagaraj said.
The committee should also conduct an audit to find out if the industries and organisations which got land at subsidised prices had used it for the purpose it was originally meant for.
There had been allegations that several beneficiaries had not started industries on the land granted to them. “Some have even converted them into real estate projects. This is injustice. This should be opposed. The government should cancel such irrelevant allocations and re-grant the land to the landless,” he said.
The government should count how many families did not have their own houses or land and promise that they would all get them in two years, Mr. Nagaraj demanded.
