Raising resources through land auctions
The BJP Government's decision to set up Karnataka Public Lands Corporation will go a long way in retrieving and safeguarding valuable Government land, especially in and around Bangalore.
Hailed as the first of its kind in the country, the Corporation has been tasked to raise Rs 3,000 crore in the current financial year by auctioning the retrieved land. The money will be utilised for implementing infrastructure projects in major cities, including Bangalore, as has been announced in 2008-09 budget.
Over 30,000 acre of Government land has been encroached upon in Bangalore urban district alone, as per the then joint House committee that probed land encroachment. The encroached land belongs to various Government departments including Revenue, Urban Development, Muzarai, Forest and others. The value of the encroached land runs into several thousand crores of rupees.
Retrieving these properties from powerful land sharks is not an easy task. And the B S Yeddyurappa Government was apparently aware of it. So, it has decided to keep politics away from the Corporation -- it has been decided to register the corporation under Indian Companies’ Act. The Corporation will be headed by Principal Secretary, Revenue department.
Presently, the Revenue department officials are conducting land recovery operations with the help of local police. Plans are on the cards to set up a separate task force of the Corporation for this purpose.
To ensure that the recovered land is protected, the Corporation will take up fencing.
Effective functioning of the Corporation will mainly benefit people living in urban areas, especially Bangalore, as the money earned through land auction will be utilised for implementing infrastructure projects that are announced in the budget.
It may be building flyovers and underpasses or providing basic amenities to people in newly-added areas of BBMP, construction of international airport in Hubli, building airstrips at all district headquarters, all these mega projects will be funded using the money raised by the Corporation by auctioning the land. The Chief Minister has announced several projects worth Rs 1,800 crore for Bangalore alone in the budget.
The Revenue department has already swung into action to achieve its target -- to raise Rs 3,000 crore. It commenced land auction recently.
