By IANS,
Shimla : More than 1,000 people who are not residents of Himachal Pradesh have been allowed by the state government to purchase land in the state in the past three and a half years, the government said Thursday.
“As many as 1,004 non-Himachalis have been granted land by the state government from Jan 1, 2008 to Aug 15, 2011,” the Public Works Minister Thakur Gulab Singh said in the assembly in a written reply.
On permissions granted to the buyers for land-use change during this period, the minister said: “No separate permission is granted in such cases for land-use change.
“However, each permission is granted for a specific purpose and this often automatically results in change of land-use as far as classification in land records is concerned.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government assumed office for its second term December 2007.
Under Himachal Pradesh laws, only the state’s permanent residents can buy land in the state. Others who want to purchase the land for non-agricultural purposes have to seek relaxations from the government under provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act.
In 2007, the then Congress government in the state had allowed Priyanka Vadra, daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, to buy land close to The Retreat, the summer holiday resort of President Pratibha Patil on the outskirts of Shimla.
The minister said only 366 non-agriculturalists Himachal Pradesh residents were allowed to purchase land in the state.