THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
New Delhi, Feb 11: Over 322 acres of defence land in Jharkhand are currently under encroachment, the Central government revealed on Monday in the Rajya Sabha. This information was disclosed in response to a query regarding the details of encroached defence land across the country, along with location-wise data.
Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth stated that out of approximately 18 lakh acres of Defence land nationwide, around 10,249 acres are under encroachment.
Notably, the Enforcement Directorate is conducting a probe into illegal transactions of a huge parcel of Army land in Ranchi.
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In a written response, Seth, an MP from Ranchi, also provided state-wise details of encroached defence land. The highest encroachment was recorded in Uttar Pradesh (1,759.23 acres), followed by Madhya Pradesh (1,757.976 acres), Bihar (529.548 acres), Odisha (0.725 acres), and West Bengal (816.08 acres).
Leased Defence Land and Encroachments
In another query, the government was asked whether it was aware that large portions of defence land leased to private and other entities were either not being used as intended or were under encroachment.
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Seth explained that defence land within cantonments has historically been leased to private individuals, institutions, and government bodies for various purposes under the Cantonment Codes of 1899 and 1912, followed by the Cantonment Land Administration Rules of 1925 and 1937.
“These leases were typically granted either in perpetuity or for a total period of 90 years. To address the issue of expiring or expired leases, regularize occupation, and recover lease rent, the Ministry issued an interim policy on March 10, 2017, which has been extended until December 31, 2025,” Seth stated.
Regarding encroachments on defence land, he emphasized that such cases are handled according to the law under the provisions of the Cantonments Act, 2006, and the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
