Speakers at a policy brief
on "Land Administration"
said the land reforms policy
of the government should
aim to ensure food security
to every citizen of the
country.
They demanded formation
of a special land commission
to bring proper reform to
the land administration.
They observed more than
80 per cent of terrorist
activities in the country
ware directly or indirectly
related to dispute over
ownership of land.
The government's khas
land should be distributed
among the landless people
to increase agricultural
production, they said and
added that a huge chunk
of land could be recovered
from the people who own
land but do not use.
They also underscored the
need for lowering the ceiling
on individual ownership
of land in the villages
and impose a ceiling on
land ownership in urban
areas, especially in Dhaka
city.
One individual should not
own more than five katha
of land in Dhaka city, they
said.
Ms Khushi Kabir, Coordinator
of Nijera Kori, presided
over the policy brief organised
jointly by the Centre for
Policy Dialogue (CPD), The
Daily Star and the Prothom
Alo. Saifuddin Ahmed Manik,
General Secretary of Gono
Forum; Saiful Haq, Politburo
Member of Workers Party,
Badrul Alam, General Secretary
of Krishak Federation, Abdul
Kader, Executive Ddirector
of SAMATA, Nurul Anwar,
General Secretary of Krishi
Sramik Federation, journalist
Shuvo Rahman, Subadar Ali
Mondal and Khaleda Salauddin
took part in the discussion.
Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury
of ALRD presented Task Force
report on Land Administration.
Khushi Kabir said the wage
of men and women in the
agriculture sector should
be equal. She also argued
in favour of joint ownership
of khas land distributed
among the landless people.
Saifuddin Ahmed Manik said
the government in the past,
instead of assessing the
requirement, looked for
such projects where foreign
aid would be available.
Manik felt development of
the agriculture sector should
be the aim of land reform
policy of the government.
The abandoned properties
should be distributed among
the landless people on the
one hand, and the water
bodies should be distributed
among the fishermen, on
the other.
Abdul Kader said the farmers
do not get fair price for
crops. He demanded that
wages be fixed on the basis
of working hours.
Saiful Haq observed that
the land reform should be
a major agendum of the political
parties in the next general
election.
He, however, said a special
court should be there to
resolve land dispute, which
is a major reason of dispute
among villagers. No-one,
even the donor community,
is talking about the issue.
Khaleda Salauddin underscored
the need for the land ownership
of women. "Otherwise,
the women's empowerment
would not succeed."
She also felt the necessity
of formulating a new law
for equal distribution of
land among sons and daughters.
Khaleda suggested that the
land distributed among the
landless be given registration
with joint ownership.
Badrul Alam questioned whether
the government wanted to
distribute khas land
among the landless. He also
said the farmers did not
get the benefits of bumper
crop production last year
due to fall in prices.
Alam alleged that a leading
NGO of the country was trying
to market the seeds of genetically
modified foods. He warned
the people against its negative
impact in the agriculture
sector.
