As the Uttar Pradesh government gears up for a Statewide drive to clear encroachments of ‘enemy properties’ across the State, government data accessed by The Hindu shows that about 30% of such properties in the State are under illegal occupation.
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‘Enemy properties’ refer to the properties left behind by the people who migrated from India to Pakistan or other countries with whom India has hostilities.
According to the U.P. government, about 1,467 such properties have been occupied by mafia and others, while around 369 are occupied by co-occupiers and 424 are occupied by tenants who have taken the properties for rent at nominal rates during the tenure of previous State governments. Overall, about 2,250 of the 5,936 existing such properties in the State are occupied.
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The data shows that most number of ‘enemy properties’ are occupied in the Shamli district, where 268 of the total 482 are under illegal possession.
In a high-level meeting this week, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the State Home Department to undertake a Statewide drive to clear encroachments of ‘enemy properties’ and prepare a report on the updated status of all such properties. The government decided to appoint a principal secretary level officer as a nodal officer to supervise the matter.
The State has also decided to conduct a revaluation of the rented ‘enemy properties’ as it came to its notice that many tenants who have occupied these properties for decades have been paying nominal rent till now. In view of this, the properties will be assessed according to the present market rate.