Encroachers grab govt land after Maya's sop

Police used batons to disperse a large group of encroachers who allegedly refused to vacate government land illegally occupied by them here, officials said on Monday.
       
The slum dwellers occupied the government land lying vacant in Vasundhara soon after chief minister Mayawati announced a scheme of giving ownership rights to poor people living on governmnet land on her birthday on January 15, they said.
      
City magistrate Umesh Mishra tried to get the land vacated on Sunday evening but the encroachers allegedly indulged in stone-pelting prompting the police to baton-charge them. 

The land was cleared and its possession handed over to Ghaziabad Development Association.
 
Under Sarvjan Hitay Gareeb Awas Yojna, the chief minister has said land at a rate ranging between Rs 30 to Rs 10 per square metre would be provided to the slumdwellers occupying government land.