Parliamentary Secretary for Cabinet and Establishment Farhat Khan on Tuesday directed the Federal Land Commission (FLC) to ensure implementation of its regulation in true spirit for revival of the agriculture sector. She said, "agriculture is still the single largest sector, contributing a great share to GDP as well as engaging huge workforce.
More than two-thirds of Pakistan's population lives in rural areas and their livelihood revolve around this sector and allied activities." She expressed her views, while presiding over a briefing of FLC here at Establishment division. The Secretary said that poverty in the country is largely a rural phenomenon therefore, development of agriculture will be a principal vehicle for alleviating rural poverty.
Moreover, she maintained that in the arena of human development in Pakistan, true implementation of land reforms could play an important role in reducing poverty and empowering the poor, especially, farmers and the agricultural class. She took serious note of over 1,000 cases of land pending with FLC and directed the Commission to decide these cases at the earliest to provide relief to the victims.
Earlier, Senior Member FLC Mirza Karim Baig briefed the Parliamentary Secretary about FLC and its functioning. He said the Commission was set up to introduce and implement land reforms in the country.
He said the main function of FLC is to co-ordinate the functioning of provincial land commissions, assist the federal government in deciding any dispute or differences between two or more provincial land commissions, assist the federal government in exercise of its power to take up cases decided by provincial land reforms authorities and to supervise distribution of state and enemy lands owned by the provincial governments.
He informed the Secretary that a total 8,434,147 acres of state land across the country is available with FLC for disposal, while, a total 5,736,901 acres of land have been allotted to 484,270 allottees. He further informed that secretary that a total 854 land reforms cases from across the country are in pending with provincial land reforms authorities. While the FLC being a judicial forum have decided 8,059 land reforms cases in exercise of revisional jurisdiction under the law.
As many as 655 cases are also pending with superior courts, he added. He said land reforms were high on the national agenda for decades till the Zia-created religious courts issued the incredible verdict that land reform is un-Islamic. Baig said to bring the law in conformity with the provision of Islam, the Land Reforms Act, 1977 (II of 1977) was proposed to be amended through a bill.
He said the future plan of FLC included allotment of balance resumed land measuring 270,478 acres under three land reforms, state land measuring 2,697,246 and lease of enemy land measuring 194,775 acres.
It also wanted to dispose of 1,530 land reforms cases pending before FLC, provincial land commission and various superior courts, compilation and computerisation of data pertinent to resume state and enemy lands, wide area networking with all the provincial headquarters is being planned to bring the data of land so far resumed, allotted and yet to be allotted for online information and quick access. The meeting was attended by Secretary FLC Khalid Karim, Additional Secretary Cabinet Ali Muhammad Raja and Joint Secretary Cabinet Abdul Latif Leghari.
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