Speakers, including representatives from non-governmental organisations, on Sunday called on the government to form a commission on land and agricultural reform and environmental protection.
At a press conference held at the National Press Club on the day, they placed an overall proposal containing recommendations under 36 categories related to overall land and agricultural reform. Specific recommendations have been marked in the proposal for the interim government鈥檚 immediate consideration.
Association for Land Reform and Development chairperson Khushi Kabir said that they had earlier sent an application, signed by 90,000 people living on agriculture, to chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, demanding the formation of the commission, but the government did not respond.
鈥榃e, as citizens, are placing an alternative proposal for land and agricultural reform today (Sunday) and will voluntarily submit a comprehensive report in this regard to the government within a month,鈥� she added.
While presenting the keynote speech, ALRD executive director Shamsul Huda said that land, one of the major issues for the country鈥檚 people, was a complex matter as it was not addressed under a single umbrella but involved several ministries.
Pointing out that rural poor were largely deprived of their land rights, the keynote speech mentioned that at present extreme poverty in rural areas was 35 per cent, with even higher rates in the three hill districts, char areas, disaster-prone regions and among the plainsland national minority communities.
鈥楾he primary cause of this poverty in rural agricultural communities is that most agricultural workers lack land ownership, and their legal rights to khas land and khas waterbodies have remained ineffective since the era of the previous Sheikh Hasina-led fascist government,鈥� he said.聽
He highlighted key proposals for urgent action by the interim government, including the formation of a permanent 鈥榥ational land and agricultural reform and environmental protection commission鈥�, preparation of comprehensive lists of khas land in rural and urban areas, and immediate distribution of khas agricultural land among landless rural people, marginalised farmers and ethnic minority communities.
Their other proposals include the abolition of discriminatory provisions regarding women鈥檚 land rights, immediate promulgation of the Agricultural Land Protection Act in the form of an ordinance, and strict enforcement of measures to prevent the conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes, including housing or brick kilns.
The press conference was organised by 13 organisations, including the ALRD Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge, Transparency International Bangladesh, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Ain o Salish Kendra, Kapaeeng Foundation, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, and Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad.