Unable to buy land, Kasauli residents seek exemption from Land Act

Residents of Kasauli cantonment town, who were living in the state before the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, was enacted, are demanding exemption from the law, as they are unable to purchase land without the permission of the government.

Devinder Gupta, a former vice-president of the Cantonment Board, Kasauli, says, “Thousands of people like me were living in cantonment towns like Kasauli before the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, was enacted.”

He says, “We are Himachalis but we do not own any agricultural land because we reside in a cantonment town. Now, if we want to buy land in the state, we are treated as non-Himachalis and we have to follow a tedious procedure under the law to secure permission from the state government.”

Gupta says, “We have pleaded with successive governments to include us under the provision of ‘allied pursuits’ of the said Act. As per this clause, aggrieved residents, who were living in the state before the commencement of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, were not given equal rights as were provided to many other residents/non-agriculturists under Section 118(2) a to d of the Act. The aggrieved residents should have been included under this clause at the time of the enactment of the Act.”

The Gair Krishak Maitri Sabha, Himachal Pradesh, has also taken up the issue with the state government to include under the definition of “allied pursuit” the left-out residents, who were working and residing in the state prior to the enactment of the Act.

“Allied pursuits” have been defined as people engaged in a slew of activities like dairy farming, poultry farming, livestock breeding, grazing and such other pursuits, besides those working for Central, state and semi-government undertakings, autonomous bodies, private sector entities and service providing establishments who resided in the state prior to the enactment of the Act.

Gupta says, “Cantonment towns like Kasauli have their limitations, as one cannot buy land there. Efforts to purchase land outside the cantonment town are also frustrated, as we are not agriculturists as defined by the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972.”

A delegation of aggrieved residents will soon meet Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in Shimla and take up this key issue with him, he adds.