Following the incident of a woman ending her life after Forest officials in Mundaragi taluk of Gadag district cleared crops on encroached forest land (‘bagair hukum’) and many farmers filing petitions in courts seeking rights for cultivation on such land, the State Government on Tuesday informed the Legislative Assembly that the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, would be amended and the words “land grabbing” would be deleted to authorise farmers to cultivate land in forest areas.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy said that the Government would introduce amendments to section 92 (A) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act and delete the words for granting permission to farmers to cultivate land in forest areas.
‘Bagair hukum’ is a piece of government-owned/forest land that has been cultivated by the farmers over the years without having any formal and documented ownership rights over it.
