The official said that when people migrated from Pakistan to India they were awarded land from the 'compensation pool land'.
The Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday decided to make properties given to the refugees who arrived from West Pakistan during the partition in the state as 'freehold'. The land occupants can henceforth freely sell, transfer and redevelop their properties. "The decision is slated to benefit 30 migrant colonies across the Maharashtra. We will review the land records and award the benefits to them," said a senior government official.
In Mumbai and its adjoining areas, there are refugee settlement colonies (aka refugee camps) at Chembur, Sion and Ulhasnagar. The refugee colonies in Jalgaon, Dhule, Amravati, Akola and Nandurbar, Kolhapur have a sizeable Sindhi population. A majority of them had moved here during and after the India-Pakistan Partition.
The official said that when people migrated from Pakistan to India they were awarded land from the 'compensation pool land'.
The 'pool land' is that land which belonged to the people who migrated from India to Pakistan during Partition. The Central and State government had added its own land and made a huge land bank to allow the refugees to settle on it.
As per the Cabinet note, the migrant occupied land was treated as the Occupant Class-II land. However, now it has been converted into the Occupant Class-I land. Hence, the land will now be 'freehold'. The occupants of this land can sell it in the open market. They do not need to take prior permission from any government authority," the note stated.
Another government official said that in 2007, the state government had declared land given to refugees and occupants in Dhule and Jalgaon as 'freehold'. "After that, the demand for freehold land increased in other parts of the state. Hence, the government decided to apply the 2007 decision to all remaining 30 refugee settlements in the state," said the official.
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